The Game
by Manda0610
Summary: Draco didn't plan on it. It was supposed to be a one time thing...just a game with Granger's head. Until she won. Now it's a war of wits and lips. You bring the Corona, I got the lime! DMHG.
1. On Patrol

**Disclaimer: I own NOTHING but the plot. The rest belongs to JKR.**

_Author's Note: Greetings, Gentle Reader! Welcome back! Show of hands, who got the lime and Corona reference in the summary?_

_Okay, a few rewrites, but not much is major...mostly just a few wording changes, along with the addition of Pansy's POV. Also, I put the defense back at the bottom, one, because there are some references to it in the reviews and I don't want some people going 'Mr. Moviephone? Do WHAT?' (ha ha, who's gonna scroll straight down and read it right now?), and two, because I don't feel like reading a buncha e-mails about how they don't personally think Draco or Hermione would do what they're about to. If that's you, great. You're entitled to your own opinion. So am I._

_Thanks to my wonderful beta, Ellae!_

_Enjoy! -Amanda._

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On Patrol

_October, 6th year._

"I'm bored," Draco Malfoy announced late one Friday night. The two Slytherins on the floor looked up.

Crabbe and Goyle were playing wizards' chess. Privately, Draco wondered why they even bothered. It always went the same way: the pair of them pushing their pieces around for an hour or so, neither one getting anywhere. Then if one actually did manage to capture the others' piece, (this was usually Crabbe, being the slightly more intelligent of the two, and almost always completely by accident), the other would fling the board across the room and jump up, declaring the captor a cheater.

Pansy Parkinson, his betrothed but not his girlfriend, was curled in an armchair, reading her Ancient Runes textbook. "So go patrol," she said in a distant voice, not looking up. "Maybe you'll catch a first year."

It was part of the prefects' duties to patrol the castle one night every weekend, usually from 8 pm to midnight. Draco usually blew this off, though Pansy at least attempted to do it once a week.

"I suppose I could. Nothing else to do," he sighed, getting up. "Want to come?" A few weekends back, they'd found an extremely private niche on the sixth floor. Maybe he'd get lucky again.

"I can't, I have to finish this chapter for the test on Monday," she sighed, turning a page and flipping her long dark hair behind her shoulder. "But I bet Granger's patrolling tonight. Go keep her company." She stopped reading for a moment, and looked up at him. There was a flash of amusement in her ice blue eyes and the flicker of a smile on her lips. Then she went back to reading.

That was the great thing about Pansy; they both knew they'd end up getting married someday, but for the time being, they didn't keep a leash on each other. There wasn't any point, as they'd end up married no matter what—their fathers would make sure of it. He knew he could go fool around with other girls without hurting her feelings or having her get all jealous-girlfriend on him.

Grinning, Draco got up and left the common room.

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Pansy watched Draco leave the common room and bit back a sigh. Bloody Ancient Runes.

Sure, she didn't exactly like that he fooled around with other girls, but that didn't matter. She'd have him in the end. She had him now; he would make out and fool around with others, but it was almost always her he came to for release. And that was all that mattered. Better to let him get these little conquests out of his system while they were still at Hogwarts. Better for him to do it now, before they were married and it could still be blamed on teenage hormones, than after and be whispered about behind her back.

At least, that's what she told herself.

Besides, he wouldn't actually do anything with a mudblood. It would be the height of indignity. He knew she only meant for him to go mess with her a little.

Right?

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It didn't take long to find Granger. She was on the fourth floor, walking the narrow corridor near the library. Draco didn't come out right away, instead watched her for a few minutes. Her long black school robe was hanging on a suit of armor. Despite seeing it everyday, the girls' uniforms still turned him on: a pleated gray skirt with a white oxford shirt, tie in the house colors, and either a gray sweater vest or full sweater, with house color accents at the collar. Granger wore hers with knee-high white stockings and black Mary Janes. And though he'd rather eat a thousand vomit-flavored Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans than admit it aloud, she definitely wore it well. He let his eyes scan her body; he never got the opportunity to do this on his own. Her curves were subtly enticing, yet in an amazingly unaware way. She had no idea she was pretty.

Draco shook his head a bit to clear it; he was getting far too caught up staring at Granger. He'd come here for one reason. Well, two. He hadn't fooled around in awhile, or messed with Granger's head. Two birds…one stone.

This would be fun.

-------------------------

Hermione yawned widely and looked at her watch. Eleven PM. Another hour to go. She sighed. Would anyone really notice or care if she didn't do that extra hour of patrol? Didn't she always patrol every weekend night, unless she had an exam to study for? Not only that, she usually had Ginny with her. She didn't like being here alone so late. Glancing around, she freed her robe from the nearby suit of armor's helmet.

"You really shouldn't patrol alone, you know," a voice behind her drawled. She froze in pulling her robe back on. Whirling around, wand drawn, she saw Draco Malfoy standing in the corridor, right in her path...the same path she needed to get back to the common room.

"And why's that, Malfoy?" she asked, pulling her robe up and adopting a look of bored contempt.

"Anyone could come along and…do something to you. And we wouldn't want that," he replied, walking toward her.

"What do you want?" she asked, not backing away. She noted his look of annoyance that she wasn't the least bit intimidated.

"I thought it was a nice night for patrolling, that's all," he replied with a smirk, stopping in front of her. The corridor was too narrow to just walk past him. She toyed with the idea of jinxing him, but for some reason, that just didn't seem a wise thing to do. He was probably only here to mess with her, and jinxing him would just make it worse. Better to be the bigger person, take it, and get it over with.

"Hoping to find and punish someone younger and weaker than you, huh? My, my, Malfoy, some things never change." She crossed her arms and ignored the fact that he towered over her. Why was it that boys could grow six inches in six months, but she had to remain at a lowly 5'4"?

"Looks like I got lucky," he replied, the smirk turning to a grin.

"Hate to break it to you, Malfoy, but I've got about nine months on you."

The grin widened and his eyes darkened maliciously as he took a step closer. "And I've got about nine inches and forty pounds on you, Granger."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Thanks, I'll remember that. Now will you please move so I can go to bed?"

"So early? Aren't we supposed to stay until midnight?"

"Yes, but in the almost three hours I've been here, the only living thing I've seen other than you is Mrs. Norris. I think it's safe to say it's going to stay clear. What are you doing here, anyway? Don't Slytherins usually patrol the _other_ side of the castle?"

"Usually that's true, but I was feeling a bit overachieving tonight."

"How lovely. Now move out of my way."

"No."

She sighed. "Please?" she asked, moving to go around him.

"No," he repeated, putting an arm out to block her way and taking a step toward her. She moved back instinctively. He moved around her, not moving his arm, and placed his other hand on the wall at her other side, neatly boxing her against the wall.

"Get back," she told him, struggling to keep her voice calm and hoping he couldn't hear her heart pounding in her chest.

He moved closer and she pressed herself to the wall. "Or what?" he asked in a quietly taunting voice.

"Or I'll curse you into next week, that's what. Now move," she spat out, raising her wand. He reached up and grabbed it from her, quickly tossing it over his shoulder with a grin.

"Make me," he whispered, lowering his head until his lips were just centimeters away from hers. She planted her hands on his chest—just as his lips captured hers and he pushed against her, pinning her to the wall. She pushed as hard as she could against his chest but he was too strong. He caught her wrists easily and held them behind her back with one hand. With the other hand, he reached down inside her open robe and ran a hand up the outside of her thigh, stroking a bit with his thumb. She started squirming a bit, then froze when he reached the hem of her skirt and pushed it up an inch or so.

He moved down to her neck. Hermione closed her eyes as he got to the spot right behind her ear, willing herself not to enjoy it. "Scared yet, Granger?" he whispered in her ear; she could hear the annoyingly familiar smirk in his voice. Her eyes flew open.

_He's only doing this to mess with me. He doesn't want to…do that_, she thought. Well, he wasn't going to pull a stunt like that and get away with it. No, she'd beat him at this little game he'd insisted upon starting.

Malfoy pulled back and looked at her. She widened her eyes in fake terror, bit her bottom lip, and swallowed hard. It worked, judging by the dangerous grin that spread across his face.

-------------------------

_It's working_, Draco thought in satisfaction, enjoying immensely the terrified look on Granger's face. _Why not take it a bit farther?_

He kissed her again, softly this time, and moved his free hand up to her shoulder, where he pushed her long black school robe down. It fell off and hung to the floor by their hands, his one still holding her two easily.

He'd just started inching his hand up her sweater when Granger's mouth opened as she touched her tongue to his. Then she pushed her body back into his, concentrating on his pelvic area.

Caught off guard, he released her wrists and laid his hands flat against the wall to keep from falling on her completely. Her robe fell to the floor as her arms snaked around his neck. Mostly to have something to do with his hands, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into him.

He forgot momentarily his whole reason for coming here, which was not to be snogging a _willing_ mudblood Hermione Granger against a wall, with his boxers becoming uncomfortably tight. All chance for thought and reasoning went _poof!_ when she started stroking the back of his neck. He moaned against her mouth and pressed his hands to the wall again in a repeated effort not to fall on top of her. Or rip her clothes off.

_Hey, didn't you come here for a reason? Get your mind back in your head and out of your pants_! a voice in his head scolded. It sounded remarkably like that of his father.

_Sod off_, he replied.

Just as he was considering actually doing what he'd come here to make her think he wanted to do, she pulled away. He looked down at her, unconsciously grinning like an idiot. She grinned back before leaning up and kissing her way softly up his neck. His head rolled back as he bit back yet another moan.

"Granger 1, Malfoy 0," she whispered in his ear, stooping to retrieve her discarded robe before slipping out from under his arm gracefully. Then she bent and scooped up her wand, and started walking away.

Draco watched Granger walk back up the hallway, his mouth hanging open slightly in shock, and his hands still on the wall. He struggled to keep his eyes on the back of her head, and not on her slim hips swaying enticingly with each step. He lost that battle, happily; the Hogwarts uniform had never looked so good. When she got to the corner, she looked at him over her shoulder. He dragged his hungry eyes up to her face, where there was a small smile of victory, mixed with flirtation and an unspoken dare. She flipped her hair back and disappeared around the corner.

He turned and slumped against the wall, letting out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. _Too bad she's not a Slytherin._ He couldn't help but grin. Who knew she had it in her?

_What the hell are you grinning about? You just lost, genius!_ the Lucius voice in his head screamed. Draco's grin disappeared. That hadn't gone right at all. The plan was simple: he was supposed to show up, mess with her a little bit, scare her out of her mind, and walk away. Instead, she'd outsmarted him.

She couldn't get away with this. He'd just have to try again.

And stop thinking about how soft the skin on her thigh was. And how good of a kisser she was. And…

_Oh shut up!_ he yelled at himself mentally.

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Hermione walked back to the common room slowly. What on earth had come over her? She never did things like that. What was she playing at, walking away all seductive-like and smiling?

Sure, she and Viktor had made out a time or two, but nothing like that. Had she actually enjoyed the forcefulness? Viktor had always been slow and gentle, careful not to push her farther than she wanted to go, even though he could have easily overtaken her anytime he wanted. And she appreciated that.

But Malfoy…he didn't trouble himself with other people's feelings. That came from being a Slytherin, she supposed. Take what you want, worry about who you're stepping on and hurting later, if at all. And that made him dangerous. How strange, to be less scared of Viktor Krum, a man who could have taken Malfoy out with one punch, than of Draco Malfoy himself.

She touched her mouth softly. Boy, could he kiss…turned out Parkinson wasn't talking herself up after all. Her lips curved into a small smile.

She was certain Malfoy wouldn't let her get away with it. There was sure to be payback sometime. And she was very surprised to find herself hoping he'd return in kind.

This would be a very interesting year.

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_More Author's Notes: Okay, here's the part where I defend my work. _

_I did my best to keep them in character. I can totally imagine Draco doing this, if he can't get anything from Pansy and wants to cause our favorite muggleborn a little emotional discomfort._

_Let's look at the facts. Exhibit A: Draco's sixteen, and male; that speaks for itself. Exhibit B: Hermione's not unattractive; he's arrogant and haughty, not blind. _

_As for Hermione (I changed her look b/c JKR stubbornly refused to)...I don't think she'd take antics like that lying down. She couldn't exactly jinx him with no wand, and she's definitely no match for him physically, especially with her arms behind her back. So she had to use reverse psychology, and beat him at his own game._

_Also, I know it seems like Draco has a touch of schizo there. He doesn't. Everyone has that little voice in their head; whether it sounds like a parent, a friend, or Mr. Moviephone, it's there. Besides that, he's an only child. He spends every holiday in a huge, lonely, possibly drafty and badly-decorated old house, with no one but himself or house elves to talk to. He certainly won't lower himself to talking to a lowly house elf, so that leaves only one option._

_The defense rests._

_Please be kind, review! I hope you liked it!_


	2. Draco's Revenge

_Author's Note: Greetings, Gentle Reader! The much-coveted chapter 2 is here! Slightly sexier, a little limey goodness. I'm no great shakes at writing sexual scenes yet (this is actually the sexiest scene I've ever written), but hopefully they'll get better as I go along! Enjoy! -Amanda_

_Thanks again to Ellae for helping me and being my beta! Also to AkashatheKitty, who inspired some of the smuttiness, and without whom this wouldn't be quite as limey! Read _Silencio_! It's great (and also in my favorites)!_

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Draco's Revenge

The following Friday night found Draco sitting alone on a couch in the Slytherin common room, trying to think of how to get Granger back.

How had things changed so drastically? Gone so spectacularly wrong? He'd been thinking over and over that night, purely for research and planning purposes (or at least that's what he kept telling himself), and he'd come up with two possible reasons why. One, he'd given away what his plan was at some point; two, she'd actually enjoyed it. Or both.

There was a visit to Hogsmeade the next day. It was also supposed to be blisteringly cold and windy. That wouldn't help Draco in his quest to beat Granger at this game he'd unwillingly started. He'd have to get her either before or after…the chances of doing it in Hogsmeade were slim; she was always with Potter and Weasley.

Before Hogsmeade seemed the best choice…he'd been watching her over this past week, and she almost always went down to breakfast alone. And even if she didn't tomorrow morning, he could easily slip her up from around a corner.

Good. Now that he had a time figured out, he could focus on what to do once he had her.

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Hermione was in the library. She was supposed to be writing her Potions essay, but instead she was drumming her fingers on the cover of an old book unconsciously and fighting two conflicting emotions. Part of her was thoroughly disgusted at what had happened. The other, slightly larger (though it disgusted the other part even more to know that), part was anxious and excited for it to happen again.

_What's he waiting for?_ she thought. It had been a week already since the incident just outside the room she was in now. _I was sure Malfoy would do something by now. Maybe he's just lulling me into a false sense of security. _Yes, that sounded like something he would do. But it wouldn't work. She knew him better than he gave her credit for. He wouldn't catch her off guard again. She really wished he'd just do whatever it was he was going to do and get it over with, though; she wanted to get back to her normal life.

_And kiss him again,_ she thought grudgingly.

She sighed and started gathering her things. She'd never get this essay done tonight.

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Draco hovered at the door of an abandoned classroom on Saturday morning, waiting for Granger. When she finally showed up, he was almost too busy staring at her legs, clad in a pair of curve-hugging jeans, to remember to grab her. Almost.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her in, then kicked the door shut and cast a locking charm on it. Then he turned and looked at her, smirking. She was in the middle of the room, straightening her fitted red sweater. When she realized who'd accosted her, she glared and put her hands on her hips.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked indignantly.

"You didn't honestly think I'd let you get away with it, did you?" he replied, ignoring her question.

"With what? Beating you at your own game?" she shot back.

"Yes!" _Wait…what?_ "No!" he amended not quickly enough. She grinned wryly.

"Now that we've established that I won, may I go?" she asked, coming over and moving to go past him. He grabbed her arm and pushed her back against the wall.

"You didn't win," he said, placing a hand on either side of her head.

She sighed and crossed her arms, then looked up at him in a bored sort of way. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Malfoy."

"Don't push me, Granger."

"And why not?" she asked, pushing off from the wall and standing so their noses were almost touching. He swallowed.

"Because I'll…" he began, not really knowing what to do. Why couldn't she at least _pretend_ to be intimidated? It would certainly make his job easier.

"You'll what?" she said softly and looking him straight in the eye.

Before he could talk himself out of it, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, more to prove his point than out of want. At least, that's what he told himself. Whatever the reason, it worked. She stood there flailing her arms for a few seconds before trying to push him away. Instead of restraining her, like the week before, he just kept going, deepening the kiss and pushing her gently back to the wall. She kept pushing on him half-heartedly, then stopped, her arms on his chest. Finally, he released her.

Granger just stood there, her mouth hanging slightly open, staring at him. Then she snapped her mouth shut and blinked. "What the hell was that?"

"A proven point. You didn't win."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, for Merlin's sake. Fine. You won. _Now_ can I go?"

"Don't tell me you didn't feel it, Granger," Draco said, putting his hands on either side of her again.

"What? Nausea?"

"No," he replied, so soft it was almost a whisper. Then his lips were on hers. He heard her let out a muffled gasp as she tried to pull her head away from his. He hooked his hand around the back of her neck and held her lips firmly against his own and she immediately stopped. Slowly, almost reluctantly, her arms wrapped around his neck as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him back. He took advantage of this and lifted her easily, pulling her legs around his waist. He pulled back and moved down, trailing kisses along her jaw line and neck. She let out a moan as he found a good spot and started sucking and nibbling a bit.

Wrapping one arm around her waist to make sure she stayed put, he moved his free hand down to the hem of her sweater and pulled it up, sliding his hand underneath. Draco marveled at how soft and smooth, yet firm, her stomach was as he ran his hand over it, moving up closer to her bra. When he reached it, he looked up into her eyes. She bit her lip and let out a choked sort of moan as he ran his thumb over her now-hard nipple through the thin fabric. Her breath was coming fast and shallow now, and he could feel her heart pounding. As slow as possible, and never taking his eyes off of hers, he slid his hand down to the waistband of her jeans and popped the button with a quick flick of his fingers. Her eyes widened.

"Don't," she whispered. He grinned and slid the zipper down.

Draco started running his finger along the waist of her pink cotton panties, his finger crooked inside. "Why not, Granger?"

"Please," she whispered hoarsely. He pulled his finger out and ran it down the front instead, stopping right at her warm center and pressing softly. She inhaled sharply and closed her eyes. He moved back to her neck and started sprinkling kisses lightly.

"You'll enjoy it, I promise," he murmured in her ear.

"That's the problem," she choked out.

"And why's that a problem, Granger?" he asked. He knew exactly what the problem was, but he wanted to hear her say it.

"Because…I'm not sure I'll be able to stop myself if you do."

"Still not seeing the problem here," he said, pushing a bit more. Another gasp.

"Please," she finally pleaded, barely audible. He could tell she was struggling to remain composed because she was shaking slightly from the effort.

Draco waited another few seconds, just long enough to make her wonder if he would or not, and then set her back down. She immediately skirted around him and stood near the middle of the room, her back to him. He turned around and leaned against the wall to watch her; she was still shaking while she straightened her clothes. He couldn't help but grin; she looked cute when she was this frazzled.

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_Ohmagoshohmagoshohmagoshohmagosh..._

_What in the name of Merlin's underwear just happened? Am I losing my mind? Maybe Luna has something with that ridiculous Wrackspurt theory…_ Hermione thought frantically as she straightened her clothes and tried to stop shaking; it wouldn't do to go into breakfast looking this shaken. When she felt she was at least composed enough to make it to the bathroom, she turned and headed for the door, determinedly ignoring Malfoy. She made it to the door before he spoke.

"This has got to stop, Granger. You chasing me like this…it's just not dignified."

She turned slowly to face him, her eyes wide and her jaw dropped. He was leaning against the wall casually, his eyes twinkling and that stupid smirk on his face.

"_What?_ Correct me if I'm wrong, Malfoy, but _you_ were the one who attacked _me_ up against a wall, twice now! I was just minding my own business when you decided to start this ridiculous game!" She planted her hands on her hips.

"Don't pull the innocent act on me, Granger…you were just as guilty as I was. You enjoyed it," he said, almost accusingly.

Hermione couldn't deny it; she'd enjoyed it so much that she just might need to go change her pants now. But that was beside the point. "Even if I did, it doesn't matter. It won't be happening again." She desperately hoped that sounded as confident as she wanted it to.

"Oh, is _that_ what you think," he replied, pushing off the wall and walking over to her. Anger and frustration were quickly replacing confusion and guilt over what had just happened.

"No, that's what I _know_."

"That sounds an awful lot like a challenge, Granger."

"Well, it's not. It's cold hard fact. It won't. Happen. Again."

"I beg to differ."

"You'll be begging for a lot more than that if you don't leave me alone, Malfoy."

"What's the matter, Granger? Afraid you might enjoy it?" he taunted, standing a little closer than was absolutely necessary and looking her straight in the eye.

_Yes. _But she'd be damned before she admitted it to him. Hermione felt her face redden and swallowed, while groping desperately behind her for the doorknob. She couldn't seem to tear her eyes from Malfoy's. When she finally found the doorknob and started to turn, Malfoy's hand flew up and landed on the door to the left of her head, holding it shut. His eyes never left hers.

"Let me out," she said as evenly as she could.

"Is that what you _really_ want? Or would you rather get against the wall again?" Malfoy asked. He was grinning, but something told her he was anything but joking. And that made this a lot harder than she wished it was. When she couldn't answer, he continued. "Come on, Granger. We're sixteen! This is what we're supposed to do…sneak around, doing all manner of tawdry and sordid things; it's expected. No one has to know."

"And what about our friends, Malfoy?"

"What about them?"

"I can't do that to them! It's not right! Besides, aren't you practically engaged to Parkinson already?"

"Practically. Not literally. We have an understanding."

"Well, that's very nice. But no. Why me anyway? We both know you could walk into the Great Hall, snap your fingers, and at least a dozen girls would rush over to you, ready and willing to jump in bed with you."

"Too easy."

"And the fact that I'm completely and utterly unwilling means nothing?"

"On the contrary, Granger, it means everything. Defeat makes victory that much sweeter."

"Well, your next victory will be put you in a diabetic coma, then, because this is one battle you will not be winning. Ever."

"You'll make it a whole lot easier on us both if you just go along."

"When have I ever done anything to make things _easier_ on you?" she countered.

Malfoy grinned. "Good point. But trust me, Granger; you don't want to go head to head with me."

"I'll take my chances. Now will you _please_ move your hand?" she asked, looking up at him with what she hoped was a bored look on her face; in reality, her heart was beating faster than the Hogwarts Express.

"Have it your way," he replied with a sigh and removing his hand from the door. "I hope you're ready for this, Granger."

Hermione rolled her eyes and turned the knob. She peeked around the door, slipped out and headed straight across the hall. When she got to the bathroom, she closed and locked the door, then fell against it.

What in the world had she gotten herself into?

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_Author's Note: Well, there it is! I hope you liked it! Please be kind...review! No flaming if you please, but constructive criticism and ideas are highly appreciated!_


	3. The Last Word

_Author's Note:__ Greetings, Gentle Reader! I know it's been a long time…tonsa crap going on, and writer's block. The good news is, I seem to have found a cure for it: Newsies, the greatest movie EVER._

_Thanks, as usual, to Ellae! This nose scratch is just for you!_

The Last Word

_What. The. Hell._

That was the only thought that went through Hermione's mind for the next week.

What had she done? She wasn't supposed to be letting him get the upper hand. She was supposed to be winning, not him!

What was more, her first experience of that sort wasn't supposed to be with _Malfoy_. It was supposed to be with…well never mind that. But definitely _not_ with Malfoy, that was for certain.

Maybe he'd been bluffing. But she doubted it.

Most likely, if she just ignored him, he'd give up.

_But do you really want him to?_ the annoyingly smug voice in her head asked.

_Yes. Maybe. Sigh._Hermione found herself thinking almost longingly of the days when he would make her life hell strictly through taunts and name-calling.

Oh well. Whatever he did, she'd make sure she was ready for it this time.

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Meanwhile, Draco had been a mess of conflicting emotions. Disgust at having done what he did with Granger, excitement for when the opportunity would come again, and confusion as to what the hell it all meant.

_Face it, mate, you want her. More than you've ever wanted any other girl,_ the increasingly-annoying voice in his head taunted.

_I don't want _her_, I want to mess with her a bit. There's a difference_, he replied silently.

Draco was jarred from his thoughts by the sound of three familiar voices coming toward him in the empty hallway. He looked up to see Granger, Potter and Weasley walking toward him, most likely on their way back to their common room, and grinned.

"Well, well, if it isn't everyone's favorite Gryffindors," he said as they passed him. "Hey, Granger, why do you even hang out with these two anymore? I mean, I know you're a mudblood, but surely even _you_ have your limits."

Draco could almost time exactly what would happen and when: He smirks and calls Granger a mudblood. Check. Potter and Weasley reach for wands with scowls marring their already-ugly faces. Check. Granger puts hand on their arms and murmurs a few words of placation, they put wands away and start leaving. Check. Draco smirks a little more and makes comment about their listening to a mudblood.

"Amazing, neither of _you_ are even getting anything from her, and she's got you whipped."

Check.

As predicted, Potter and Weasley instantly reached for their wands. Even better, Granger's face turned a very unattractive shade of scarlet.

These three were ridiculously predictable.

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Hermione felt her face flame. He wouldn't tell them, would he? Would they believe him if he did?

_Of course not, on both counts,_ she reassured herself._ Even if he did tell them, they wouldn't believe him because everyone knows Hermione Granger is a goody-two-shoed know-it-all who does nothing but study and keep Harry and Ron out of trouble._

Somehow, the thought didn't cheer her up one bit.

"Take it back," Harry growled, raising his wand.

"Hey, if you can't get anything from her, that's not my fault," Malfoy replied, looking supremely unperturbed.

Suddenly he was against the wall, Ron's arm on his chest and his wand at Malfoy's throat.

"You heard him," Ron said in a low and deadly voice. "Take it back."

Surprisingly, Malfoy just chuckled. This didn't help matters. Ron pressed his wand deeper into the Slytherin's throat. Hermione looked desperately at Harry, her expression clearly saying _Don't just stand there, do something! _Harry just shrugged and looked right back as though to say_ What do you want me to do? He deserves it._ She dropped her bag and moved forward, putting her hand on Ron's arm and whispering in his ear, "Ron, he's not worth getting expelled. What would your mother say?" For a moment, it seemed he ignored her words, then he turned and looked down at her, not letting Malfoy go. She looked up at him pleadingly. "Please," she mouthed. His hard expression softened and he let Malfoy go. She pulled him backwards as Malfoy straightened his clothes.

Neither Hermione nor her two best friends gave Malfoy a second look as they picked up their things and started walking away.

But of course, Malfoy being Malfoy, he couldn't just let it go without one last parting shot.

"You know, Granger, it's just cruel to let him walk around with that much unreleased frustration."

-------------------------

The next thing he knew, Draco was against the wall again, only this time it was Granger doing the pinning.

Draco grinned and said, soft enough so only she could hear him, "Couldn't wait until we were alone again, huh, Granger? Why don't you meet me later and we release some of _your_ frustration?" He wasn't really sure what made him say it—all he knew is that he wanted her badly all of a sudden. There was a fire in her eyes he'd never seen there before; he could practically _feel_ the hatred burning from her and that, inexplicably, just made him want her even more.

"You want released frustration? You got it," she growled back. Her pulled-back fist didn't register until it was too late—his nose was already broken. His hands flew to his face and he let out a muffled cry of pain, feeling blood trickle down his face. Through tearing and shocked eyes, he looked at Granger, who smirked at him, picked up her bag, and walked calmly away. Potter and Weasley just stood there staring after her, before looking at him, then following Granger in stunned silence.

-------------------------

Ron watched as Hermione stomped angrily ahead of him and Harry, torn between feelings of admiration and curiosity.

What had Malfoy said to make her punch him? Most un-Hermione-like.

Oh well. Whatever he'd said, it certainly made a nice show for him to watch. That one was definitely going in the Malfoy-punishing hall of fame, right below the time they slipped U-No-Poo into his pumpkin juice.

"What do you reckon that was about?" Harry whispered, looking worriedly at Hermione's back.

"I don't know, but whatever it was obviously twisted her knickers," Ron whispered back. "And we learned an important lesson."

"What's that?" Harry asked, looking at him in confusion.

"When dealing with Hermione, never try and get the last word," Ron replied, grinning.

-------------------------

_Author's Notes 2-the Sequel:__ OK, I know it's short. I've found I kinda have the whole Dan Brown thing going on, in that I don't like to have like tons of different scenes in one chapter. Take heart, for the next chapter is currently brewing itself within my head as we speak!_


	4. Spelling It Out

Spelling It Out

Draco sat in the hospital wing while Madame Pomfrey got him a potion for the pain in his nose. She'd fixed the break in about two seconds, but the pain and bruising was still there.

_Merlin, that makes twice now!_ he thought, touching his newly-fixed nose gingerly and winching slightly.

The nurse came bustling back over to him, holding a goblet full of potion, heat waves floating over the top.

"Now, it's hot, so drink slowly," she advised, handing him the goblet. He blew on it a bit and took a long drink. The pain started going away almost immediately. "How did you say you did this again?" she asked, sounding slightly suspicious.

"Walked into a door," he said quickly, taking another drink to avoid anymore questions. The older witch observed him, her lips pursed and her eyes narrowed. After he'd finished, she took the goblet and put it on the table next to the bed.

"This is for the bruising," the nurse said, picking up a bowl of sticky-looking salve. She dipped her hand in and pulled a bit out on her fingertips, then started dabbing it under his eyes and on the bridge of his nose. Draco fought the urge to wrinkle his nose at the smell, which reminded him strongly of Crabbe's socks. When she'd finished, she wiped her hand on her apron and stood. "Now just let that dry, then you'll be off. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes."

"Thank you," he said, putting on his most charming smile. Madame Pomfrey merely exhaled sharply through her nose and went back to her office. Draco knew she didn't believe his story, which he had to admit was not all that good, but he also knew she never asked many questions.

Five minutes later, he was on his way back to the common room, thinking about his next move on Granger.

-------------------------

"Just his normal Malfoy drabble! You know him, 'You're a mudblood blah blah blah…I'm better than you yada yada yada'," Hermione insisted for the seventeenth time. It wasn't technically a lie…he said that stuff all the time. They had been pestering her about what Malfoy had said that afternoon ever since they arrived back in the common room.

"But he always says that kind of stuff. You've never punched him for it before!" Ron replied. Hermione and Harry both gave him an odd look. "Okay, except for that one time in third year."

"He's got a point," Harry added.

Hermione looked up from where she was curled in a fireside armchair, reading her next Arithmancy assignment. "If you must know, I'm just a little less…tolerant this week, okay?" Harry blinked and Ron stared at her blankly. She sighed. "Do I need to spell it out for you?"

They still didn't answer.

"Fine. P-E-R-I-O-D." It still wasn't a total lie…she _had_ had it on Monday and Tuesday. It was only Thursday.

Ron and Harry both reddened and hastily changed the subject to the coming Quidditch match. Hermione grinned to herself and went back to her book.

-------------------------

The next night, Draco was sitting in the common room, brooding and thinking about a certain Gryffindor. No, scratch that, thinking of ways to get a certain Gryffindor back. Why else would he be thinking of her? It's not like he _liked_ her or anything…he had been watching and thinking about her nearly nonstop the past week strictly for research purposes.

_Why the hell did I say that to her? Me and my big stupid mouth. I should have just let it go,_ he thought.

_Because you're a Malfoy for one, and two, because you wanted an excuse to rile her up again, _the ever-constant voice reminded him.

_Besides that._

_Because part of you was hoping she'd call your bluff and take you up on the offer._

_Sod off._

_Hey, you can't help it if you want her more than you've ever wanted any other girl. It's not your fault she's so damn cute when she's frazzled or mad._

Draco sighed. There had to be a way to get this girl out of his system.

-------------------------

Hermione, as usual, was in the library. This time, however, she _was_ working on her homework. Ancient Runes, to be exact. She was so busy trying to translate a particularly difficult rune, she didn't hear the footsteps behind her.

"Personally, I never understood those squiggles and boxes," an unfortunately-familiar voice said behind her. Hermione didn't trouble herself to hide a sigh.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked as he flipped a chair around and sat on it backwards, his arms crossed comfortably on the back.

"Well, if that wasn't a loaded question, Granger," he replied with a grin.

She responded by rolling her eyes and going back to her book.

"Don't tell me you don't want it as well."

"I don't want it as well," she replied lazily, flipping a few pages to find the offending rune.

"You know, if you just gave in, this would go much faster. I already told you, it's only because you insist upon making it a challenge."

"Forget it."

"Isn't it tiring?" he asked after a few moments.

"What?" she asked, still not looking up.

"Studying all the time. Always doing the right thing. I should think it would get boring after awhile," he replied.

Hermione's head snapped up in anger. Then she shook her head and chuckled humorlessly. "You'll have to do better than that, Malfoy," she said instead, resuming her writing.

"So, that punch yesterday. Was it because what I said made you mad, or because it turned you on?" he asked.

Hermione bent her head down farther and started writing faster, resulting in a broken quill. She felt Malfoy's breath on her ear as he leaned close and whispered, "Or maybe it was both?" She looked up, fully prepared to make a snappy comeback, but Malfoy's lips were on hers before she could get any words out.

She gasped against his lips, and his tongue slid inside her mouth, teasing her own. Just as she started to respond, he pulled away and grinned.

"So it _was_ that it turned you on."

Before she could get her emotions in check, she slapped him sharply across the face. He looked back at her, his eyes dark but not in anger. A slow grin spread across his face.

"I knew it. You feel it, too!" he said.

"I…I do not! It was just…just…"

"Just what, Granger?"

She stood up quickly and began stuffing her things haphazardly into her bag, avoiding his eyes. He stood up too and leaned against the table next to her.

"Look, I don't like it anymore than you do," he said.

"Like what?" she asked, not stopping.

"Come off it, Granger. You're attracted to me, just like I'm attracted to you."

"So what? I was attracted to Cedri—never mind. It doesn't matter. Attraction fades."

"And if it doesn't?" he asked, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her around to face him.

"Then…well…I don't know. But it doesn't matter. It will."

"But what if it doesn't? I can't just go around being attracted to you my whole life, wondering."

"I hope you're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting, Malfoy," she replied in a warning voice.

"I'm not suggesting marriage. Or even a relationship. One night."

"No."

"You're not as opaque as you like to think, Granger. The attraction's in your eyes whether you like it or not." Hermione swallowed hard, then wrenched her arm out of his grasp and went back to her things. When she was done, she slung her bag onto her shoulder and looked him straight in the eye.

"Never."

"Why? Afraid your precious Potter might find out? Or maybe it's Weasley?"

"And you don't care if Pansy finds out? Or Crabbe and Goyle? Or your father?"

"Let me worry about that."

"Go right ahead. I couldn't give two knuts, because it won't happen."

"Words don't always taste so great the second time around, Granger."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, you might have to eat them later. So maybe you should make them a little sweeter."

Completely fed up with Malfoy and his riddles, Hermione scowled and stormed out of the library.


	5. Problems

_Author's Notes: Greetings, Gentle Reader! I hope you're enjoying it thus far!_

_Just a quick tidbit, boys are allowed into the girls' rooms in the story. Or maybe just in Slytherin, because ol' Salazar figured they'd find a way to do it anyway, being Slytherins and all. _

_Here's a special nose scratch just for Ellae! Congrats on being the first to review this chapter._

-----------------------

Problems

Hermione sat by the lake, her head in her hands. What the hell was she doing? She wasn't _attracted_ to Draco Malfoy. That would be utterly ridiculous, and tantamount to treason. Gryffindors and Slytherins didn't talk, other than to fling insults. They didn't sit together unless forced. They didn't become friends. And most importantly, they didn't _kiss_.

Or think about each other nonstop.

She had to stay away from him. That's all there was to it. It was just a stupid…physical thing. No substance whatsoever. It would pass in time; all she had to do was avoid him like the plague.

That was easy enough, right?

-------------------------

Draco was in the Slytherin common room on his Monday afternoon break, attempting to get caught up in History of Magic. The words may as well have been runes for all he was getting done. Bloody Granger and her bloody teasing. Why couldn't she just give in already? Maybe he should step it up.

Someone sat next to him, but he didn't realize until a hand appeared on the page. Blinking in confusion, he looked up. Pansy was next to him, grinning, her hand on his History text.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," he replied. "What's with the interrupting?"

"Just making sure you're still awake. Your eyes haven't moved in about ten minutes."

He chuckled. "Oh. Well this isn't much of a page-turner."

"Want to borrow my notes?"

"Since when do you take notes?"

"I don't, I pay off Arnold Yodle to take them for me," she answered. Draco grinned. He knew there was a reason he and Pansy got on so well.

"Ah. Nice work."

"So you want them? They're very thorough."

"Sure, thanks," he replied.

"Okay then, come on," she said, getting up.

"Where?"

"To get the notes. They're in my dorm," Pansy replied, a slight smile on her face.

Draco hesitated. He was about two seconds away from being expelled as it was. Pansy saw the look on his face and interpreted correctly.

"My roommates all have class. We're the only ones here. I'm not going to tell, are you?" she asked.

Draco grinned, then stood as well. Maybe there was another way to get bloody Granger out of his head after all.

"Lead the way."

-------------------------

In the short time they it took to get to Pansy's room, the notes had already been forgotten. As soon as they were both inside, Pansy closed and locked the door, then turned and looked at him. Slowly, she kicked off her shoes and pulled her sweater off. Then she started unbuttoning the Oxford and walking backward toward her bed. Draco wasn't dumb; he could follow a pattern. He did the same.

By the time they got to the bed, half of their clothing already littered the floor. All four of their shirts, as well as their ties, shoes, and Pansy's knee socks lay there and presently Pansy was kissing him while undoing his belt and pants. Draco, on the other hand, didn't bother with her skirt other than to push it up to pull her panties down and throw them unceremoniously behind him.

They fell on the bed in an ungraceful heap and began kissing feverishly. Draco moved down to the spot she liked best on her neck and she ran her fingers through his hair exactly the right way. Just as he pulled back, poised to give her what she'd brought him here for, he stopped.

"Draco, we're a little short on time here," she said in frustration when she realized he didn't just stop for teasing purposes. He looked down at her, wishing with all his heart he could enjoy this. But he couldn't. This didn't feel…right.

Bloody Granger.

_Suck it up! _he told himself. _You deserve this, dammit. You don't deserve to have the mudblood teasing you!_

"Sorry, love," he told her with a grin. Then he entered her fully, in one quick stroke. She responded just the way he knew she would, by arching her back and moaning. Usually, that just made him go harder, but today it just felt like they were following a script.

But he forced himself to continue. It would get better, he just hadn't done this in a few weeks. He was out of rhythm, that's all.

He leaned down and kissed her neck again, while sliding in and out of her rhythmically. Her response was satisfactory, or at least it would have been were he enjoying this as much as a sixteen year-old boy should be.

Finally, she clawed at his back the way she always did when she was about to climax. He closed his eyes and moved faster. But his release wouldn't come.

Merlin was obviously punishing him, or else had a very twisted sense of humor. Just then, an image of Granger popped into his head and a jolt went through him so intense it took his breath away.

_Well that was weird, _he thought. Then, almost experimentally, he thought, _Granger._ It happened again.

Merlin definitely had a twisted sense of humor.

When he was finally able to finish, he looked down and saw Pansy. It was rather like the feeling you get when you pick up a cup expecting milk and find that it's water instead. It took all of his will power to force himself to kiss her, the same way he always did when they were both done.

They got up slowly and Pansy walked into the adjoining bathroom, wrapped in the blanket. Another great thing about Pansy: she wasn't the type who wanted to cuddle and whisper sweet nothings when they were finished. She was perfectly content to take a quick shower, get dressed, and go about life normally. She didn't care if he was still there or not when she came back out. She'd gotten what she wanted, and that was enough for her. That's why they were perfect for each other.

Funny how he kept having to remind himself why Pansy was so great.

Things were even worse than he'd thought. And why the hell did it feel like he just _cheated_, of all the stupid things? He didn't even have a steady girlfriend, for heaven's sake!

His pride wouldn't allow him to continue chasing a girl who stubbornly refused to give in much longer. He needed to regroup, come up with a new strategy, before the girl took over him completely.

-------------------------

Try as she might, Hermione couldn't seem to avoid Malfoy. He was everywhere. Around every corner, in every room.

The only sanctuaries she had left were Ancient Runes and the Gryffindor common room. She used to have her own bed, until he started interrupting her dreams.

Luckily, he seemed to be avoiding her as well, at least for the next week or so. Then, just when she thought this whole stupid thing was over…

She discovered they weren't.

-------------------------

_More Author's Notes: Sorry my first sex scene was Draco and Pansy, I hope you're not too disappointed. But hey, at least he didn't enjoy it. His next experience will be better, I promise._

_When you're typing that flame I know you are, try to keep in mind it's my birthday, so make it at least a pretty flame._


	6. Hermione's Revenge

_Author's Note: Okay, I've had the idea for this chapter for awhile, I just didn't know where to put it. Then I got writer's block, so I decided it might be well-placed. Also, Ron's kinda mean in this one…but he has a tendency to be pretty cruel in the books, too._

_Hope you like it. The title implies revenge not on Draco, but someone else. I'll let you deduce that one._

_As always, thanks to Ellae for the help and not-always-all-that-constructive criticism! This here itch on my nose is just for you!_

_Enjoy!_

_-Manda._

-------------------------

Hermione's Revenge

Draco had avoided Granger for the last week and a half, for two reasons. One, he needed time to regroup and come up with a new plan. Two, he was hoping that by avoiding her, she might think he'd given up, and let her guard down a bit.

More than a few times, he found himself battling within himself. There was part of him that just wanted him to let it go, bow out gracefully, and go after a girl who actually _wanted_ him. The other part argued that she _did_ want him; he just needed to try a little harder, step up his game a bit.

-------------------------

Hermione was in the common room with Ron, Harry, and Ginny Friday night. It was the usual scene: the three of them animatedly discussing the last Quidditch match, and her studying.

"And then Dodrick hit the bludger at you, and you flipped to dodge it! Oh that was great!" Harry was saying.

"No, no, the best part was when you swiped the snitch right from under Nicholson's nose! Classic!" Ron cried.

Hermione cleared her throat loudly. "Excuse me? There are some trying to actually get something done here!"

"So go to the library," Ron replied. "Don't you usually spend any of your free time holed up in there, anyway?"

Hermione felt a flare of anger she couldn't quite place. Why was everyone accusing her of studying too much? "You mean the time when I'm not trying to keep you from getting expelled? At least I do my _own_ studying!" she shot back.

It was at this point when Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and pulled her up and out of the common room, muttering something under his breath. Neither Ron nor Hermione tried to stop them, or even watched them leave.

"So, what, we're all supposed to spend all of our time buried in books and parchment, never having any fun? Or a life?"

Hermione felt as though she'd been slapped. Why did he have to go there?

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly.

"Gee, I don't know. You're missing it, Hermione! You spend half of your life with your nose in a book, you'll end up a dried up old maid! Guys aren't exactly beating down your door, you know!"

_If he only knew,_ she thought wryly. And how the hell had they gotten here? Hadn't this started with a noise issue?

"What's that got to do with anything?" she cried. "All I wanted was for you guys to keep it down a little! That's not unreasonable!"

"It's got everything to do with everything! You're always on edge! Maybe if you actually went out and let loose once in awhile you could actually enjoy life!"

"Maybe I _am_ enjoying life."

"_Maybe_ you just spend every waking moment reading or studying because you're _afraid_ of life!"

Hermione's anger went from flare to nuclear explosion. She wasn't sure what made her angrier: that he was partly right, or that it just so happened there _was_ a guy beating down her door and she just couldn't admit who it was.

Ron at least had the decency to look ashamed, and not just a little afraid of what she might do or say. She was, after all, the best and brightest in their year. He swallowed hard and looked at her warily.

However, Hermione just closed her book calmly, placed it in her bag and stood to face him. She nodded. "Yeah. Maybe you're right, Ron. I think I'll go hole up in the library now. Have a good night."

"No, Hermione, don't go, I…I don't know where that came from…"

She ignored him as she pushed the portrait open and climbed out.

------------------------

_Not enjoying life indeed! How dare him! _Hermione fumed as she stormed through the halls._ Just because I don't drink too much on the weekends and…and…sneak out to meet boys doesn't mean I'm not enjoying life! I could easily do those things! I just choose not to. _

Hermione slowed when she realized where her feet were taking her. No way was she going to the library, not after what Ron had said.

She decided to patrol instead. After all, she was already here.

When she got to her favorite patrol spot, the back hallway near the library, she hung her robe from the suit of armor, set her bag down, and sat against the wall to finish her reading.

After a few minutes, she let the book fall back to her lap with a sigh.

_What am I doing?_ she thought. _Isn't this just what I got done arguing that I _don't_ do with Ron? Yet here I am, on a perfectly good Friday night, sitting alone outside the library, studying. _She scowled in self-disgust.

"Well, well, well. Ever the prefect," a familiar voice said. Draco Malfoy strode around the corner, looking smug and arrogant as ever.

_Great._ This was all she needed.

She quickly picked the book up again, along with her notebook and a quill, trying to look as though she was taking notes.

"Go away, Malfoy," she said drily, continuing the façade of studying. It didn't work; he plopped down next to her.

"Thought anymore about my offer?" he asked conversationally.

She didn't answer. She wouldn't admit that she had, in fact, thought about it more than she was willing to admit even to herself. But she wouldn't lie, either.

After a few more seconds, Malfoy asked, "You know what I think it is, Granger?"

"I'm dying of curiosity," she deadpanned, not looking up.

"I think you're scared." At this, she looked up, not bothering to hide the surprise on her face.

"Of?"

"Me…this situation…that you might enjoy it…take your pick."

"I'm not anymore afraid of you than I am that suit of armor."

"Oh, yeah?"

Lifting her chin defiantly, she replied, "Yeah."

Malfoy looked thoughtful for a moment. "So prove it." He had that devilish gleam in his eye, the gleam that would have made any other girl giggle and swoon.

Hermione was not any other girl. And she was not the best and brightest in the year for nothing. She knew what he was doing…the same thing he'd done in the library.

Only this time, it worked.

_I can enjoy life as much as the next girl! I'll show him…_ she thought angrily.

Before she could stop herself, she reached up and pulled his lips to hers.

-------------------------

_Author's Notes: Uh oh! I wonder what happens next...MWAHAHAHAHA!!!_


	7. Eating Her Words

_Author's Notes: Greetings, Gentle Reader! (pulls metal pot over head to avoid getting hit by flying dumgbombs and Bat Bogey Hexes) I'm sooo sorry it's taken so long! I got hit with a major case of writer's block that even Newsies couldn't help! Yep, it was just THAT bad._

_But you should really blame Ellae, because she wasn't around to help me. (points at Ellae accusingly, a la the evil monkey in Chris Griffin's closet, and hides behind couch when the torch-and-pitchfork-wielding mob turns their attention to said beta)_

_Ahem. Sorry about that. Bottled up imagination and all that. Anyway…_

_Betcha can't guess what's gonna happen next...or maybe you can, if you read Spelling it Out and saw the title of this chapter. Hold onto your hat, darlin'…the fun's just getting started._

_Love you, Elle! Nose scratch!_

_Enjoy!_

_-Manda._

_PS: I am not a dog hater. You'll understand later._

-------------------------

Eating Her Words

After a few moments, they pulled apart. Malfoy was staring down at her as though he'd never seen her before. Hermione stared back up at him, her eyes wide.

Then, suddenly, he was kissing her hungrily. His arms went around her waist, pulling her over to straddle him. Hermione's first instinct was to resist, but she found she didn't have the strength to. Tired of pretending she didn't want this, she allowed him to pull her over and wrapped her arms around his neck.

-------------------------

Draco didn't waste any time. He untucked her shirt from her skirt, not bothering to remove her sweater vest first. As soon as he reached her bra, she pulled back sharply and opened her mouth to speak. Impatient and not all that interested in what she had to say, he moved to her neck, causing her to drop her head back and moan softly. Encouraged, he moved up to her bra again and ran his thumb over her nipple softly through the fabric.

"I…Malfoy…we…we can't…" she breathed.

_She's got to be joking,_ he groaned inwardly.

"Don't even think about it, Granger," he whispered in her ear.

"No…it's just…Merlin, do you have to do that?" she mumbled.

"Just what?" he asked, not stopping.

"Not…not here. Not like this," she choked out finally.

"Then where?" he asked, moving his other hand to the hem of her skirt and pushing it up.

"Ummm…"

Draco, enjoying the effect he was having on her immensely, moved the hand under her skirt to her panties. She let out another choked moan.

"Hurry up, Granger, I won't wait much longer," he warned, sliding a finger along her warm center through the soft cotton.

"The library," she said finally.

It was Draco's turn to pull back. He looked at her, not quite comprehending.

"Are you serious?" he asked finally.

She blinked. "Why? Do you know of someplace better?" she asked coolly.

He racked his brain. Everywhere he could think of would take too long to get to. The library was just across the hall. And it _did_ have that couch near the restricted section…

"Okay," he replied quickly, helping her to stand and getting up.

-------------------------

A few minutes later, Hermione found herself sitting next to Malfoy. They had kissed furiously the whole way back to the dilapidated couch that sat near the rope that blocked entrance to the restricted section. They were currently sitting side by side, turned toward each other, both their sweaters taken off and lying forgotten somewhere behind her.

Hermione moaned as he began unbuttoning her shirt and kissing her neck. She fumbled at his buttons and finally managed to push his shirt down his shoulders. He shook it off impatiently and took hers off, along with her bra, then tossed them unceremoniously onto the floor. Biting back another moan, she wrapped her arms around him and scratched his back lightly with her nails. At this, he let out a low growl and pulled her legs up and laid her back, getting on top. He looked at her breasts hungrily, then took the right nipple into his mouth. She bit her lip and moaned softly.

He had just begun reaching up her skirt to pull her panties down when the unthinkable happened.

_What the hell are you doing?, _the increasingly annoying voice piped up.

_What the hell does it look like! Bugger off!, _she replied to herself exasperatedly.

_It _looks_ like you're about to have sex. With Draco. As in _Malfoy

_Bloody hell…it's just once!_

_Is it?, _the voice asked.

"Um…Malfoy?" she asked hesitantly. He responded with a muffled "Hmm?" but didn't stop. "Malfoy…," she tried again. He still didn't stop. She sighed in contentment and closed her eyes as his fingers found the right spot. The slow tingling heat was almost too much to bear…

_AHEM!_

Her eyes flew open. "Mal…Draco….stop for a moment…" She bit back a gasp, knowing that would just encourage him.

He stopped, resting his forehead on her chest and sighing impatiently. "What now, Granger?" he asked, not looking up.

"This…this is only once, right? Just this one time?"

He looked up at her, stunned. "Don't tell me you're chickening out now."

"No! It's just a question."

"Yes, Granger. It's just once. Can we please get back to the matter at hand and chat after?"

Hermione clenched her jaw, fully prepared to tell him to shove it, perhaps with a well-placed knee. He seemed to realize this and began moving his finger again, grinning devilishly. "Something you'd like to say, Granger?" he asked softly as her breath hitched.

"Yes," she whispered in her most seductive voice. "I hate you with every fiber of my being. Now get up here." The grin widened as he moved up to kiss her again. She moved to undo his belt before pushing his pants and boxers down. He kicked them off and broke the kiss to lean back and pull her panties and skirt off.

He moved back over her and grinned. "So, Granger," he began. "How do those words taste?"

"Not so bad actually," she replied softly, shifting to afford him better access and hoping he could hear over the pounding of her heart.

"Nervous?" he asked.

"No," she lied. She betrayed herself, though, when she felt the tip of his length touch her most intimate place; she immediately gasped and tensed up. He stopped and looked down at her, blinking in confusion.

"Is this your first time?" he asked. She nodded.

"Relax, Granger. Squeeze my arms if you need to," he whispered, pushing a bit more. She closed her eyes and tried to take a few deep, relaxing breaths. He pushed a bit more and she gasped, gripping his arms as tightly as she could. She hadn't expected it to hurt this much.

-------------------------

Draco had two choices.

Stop, and go wake up Pansy. And probably not enjoy it.

Continue, and risk hurting her even more, and therefore possibly disabling any chance he might have at getting more later. Not that he would want it, he was almost positive. But one can never be too sure.

"You have to relax. Otherwise it'll just hurt more," he whispered, pushing in a bit more. He moved his hand down to her side and rubbed her back lightly, still murmuring words of placation. Little by little, she began to relax and the grip on his arms lessened.

Draco clenched his jaw, trying to refrain from entering her to the hilt. It had been so long since he'd been with a virgin, and the tightness of her was driving him mad. He tried to put his mind to other things. _Dead puppies…dead puppies…dead puppies…_, he thought silently.

It didn't work. He was starting to sweat now from the effort of not ravishing her.

Suddenly, Granger gasped again, but it was different. From pain or pleasure, he couldn't be sure, so he stopped and looked down at her. Her eyes were closed and she was taking short ragged breaths.

"You all right down there, Granger?" he asked, hating the concern in his voice. This was just sex, not a relationship. Why should he care if it hurt her or not? She'd started it. She wanted it, too; it wasn't like this was rape.

Slowly, she nodded and opened her eyes, then smiled. "Never better," she whispered, pushing up a little, urging him deeper. Draco didn't need to be told twice—he entered the rest of the way in one quick, smooth motion, earning him a very satisfying gasp from his partner. Sensing that he probably shouldn't go full speed just yet, he started moving in and out slowly, letting her adjust to the motion. At first, she just lay there, her eyes closed and her face looking as though she couldn't decide whether she liked it or not. Then slowly, she began moving with him, matching his rhythm and meeting him stroke for stroke.

He thought he might go mad right then and there…

-------------------------

Hermione's head was spinning. It still hurt a bit, but somehow, it was almost worth it for the pleasure. The pain was ebbing slowly, and as it did, she moved her hips a bit faster. Malfoy followed her lead.

Suddenly, he reached down and grasped her thigh, pulling up until it rested on his hip. She did the same with her other leg and experienced a burst of pleasure as he went deeper than before, causing her to let out a choked sort of gasp. Malfoy, interpreting correctly, repeated the motion.

After a few more minutes, Malfoy let out a moan and gripped the cushion beneath her, then crushed his lips against hers and began moving faster and more frantically. Hermione gasped as she felt the most peculiar sensation. It was wonderful…then her mind went completely blank. Malfoy let out a ragged sigh and slowed down, then finally stopped. He collapsed on top of her, his head buried in her neck.

Hermione swallowed and took a deep breath, trying to stop her pounding heart. She could feel Malfoy's heart beating just as fast on top of hers. Finally, he took a deep breath as well and murmured one word:

"Wow."

-------------------------

_Author's Note: Well, I hope it was worth the wait! Special thanks to AkashaTheKitty for all her help, even though she'll never read this. _

_You know what to do now…hit that gray button!_


	8. Close Call

_Author's Notes: Greetings, Gentle Reader! Hope you liked the last chapter! OK, I know this one's short, but chances are the next will be up in the next day or so, so don't fret your pretty little head about it! More to come! _

_Enjoy!_

_-Manda._

-------------------------

Close Call

"Was that a good 'wow'?" Granger asked uncertainly.

"Put it this way—Potter and Weasley are idiots," Draco replied, looking up. She blinked and tilted her head to the side, not comprehending. _Hermione Granger doesn't understand something…I should mark this date on my calendar,_ he thought in amusement.

"For not realizing what's right under their noses," he clarified. Her face instantly turned beet red and he grinned. Then a look of embarrassment came over her face as she brought her hands up to cover herself. She shifted a bit and cleared her throat. He stayed where he was for a moment, then moved so she could sit up.

She moved off of the couch and gathered her clothes quickly before going behind a bookcase to dress. He heard her mutter a cleaning charm. When she came out, he was in the same spot as before, still naked. Her face turned red again and she averted her eyes. He grinned again, then moved to gather his own clothes and redress.

-------------------------

Hermione couldn't believe it. She'd just lost her virginity. To Draco Malfoy. In the library.

Trying to stop her hands shaking so badly, she set out looking for her socks and shoes. She didn't even remember taking them off. Oh well. She couldn't walk back to the common room without them.

She had just located one sock under the couch, of all places, and was bent over trying to retrieve it when she heard a low whistle behind her. Sitting up on her knees abruptly, she whipped around to see Malfoy, his shirt partially unbuttoned, his tie hanging loosely about his neck, grinning from ear to ear. She'd rather go face to face with a whole crate of Blast-Ended Skrewts than show him she was even the least bit embarrassed about what had just happened, so she rolled her eyes and bent back down (a bit more ladylike this time) to yank her sock out.

Ignoring the fact that he was staring at her, she sat on the couch and began pulling her knee socks back on.

"So what now?" she asked finally.

"What what now? We did it. That's that, end of discussion. Unless you'd rather keep this going…?" he replied.

"No, thank you. I meant do we just go back to the way things were? Hating each other? You go on calling me "Mudblood" and I go back to despising you?"

"I suppose so," he answered easily, adjusting his tie and pulling his sweater on.

"All right, then. Have a nice life," she replied, pulling her shoes on and standing up. She walked over to him and stuck her hand out, more to be sarcastic than out of actual desire to touch him. He surprised her by shaking it. Then he shocked her by tugging her to him and kissing her deeply, before backing her up to a bookcase and pinning her against it.

-------------------------

Draco wasn't sure what made him do it. He told himself it was just to shock her, but that sounded flimsy, even in his head.

Just when she was starting to respond to the kiss, a most unwelcome voice echoed through the library.

"Hermione? Are you in here?"

Granger gasped against his lips and tried to push him away. He held her where she was for a few more seconds, then released her and ducked behind the nearest bookcase. Peeking around it, he saw Weasley come into view.

"Ron! What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I felt bad about what I said and wanted to come apologize…" he began.

"And this was the first place you thought of, I suppose?" she interrupted angrily.

"Well, I know that the back hallway is one of your favorite patrolling spots, and I saw your bag in the hallway, so…," he tried again.

"So you assumed I'd go straight to the place you accuse me of spending too much time in?"

Weasley didn't seem to know what to say to that. He was fidgeting nervously, moving from one foot to the other.

"Well…"

"You know, Ron, you really are too much. You think you know me so well, don't you?" She had her hands planted on her hips now.

The other boy blinked a couple of times, looking truly and honestly confused. Not that that was so hard for him. He spent most of his life that way, Draco was sure.

"But…you _are_ here."

Draco had to give him that. What the hell was she so mad about?

"That's not the point! The point is you couldn't think of anywhere else to go! You came straight to the library to look for me! I don't think you know me at all!" she cried, pushing past him and out of the library.

Weasley didn't try to stop her, or even look mad when she pushed past him. He just stood there, looking bewildered. After a few moments, he shook his head and muttered, "Girls," before turning and following her.

Draco had to agree.

-------------------------

Hermione angrily grabbed her bag from against the wall outside the library and shoved her books into it, resulting in a ripped bag. With a frustrated sigh, she dropped to the floor to pick her things up and began stuffing everything back in. Normally, she was so precise about keeping everything neat and tidy, so she could find exactly what she needed quickly.

Right now, she didn't give a damn. She just wanted her things in her bag so she could get back to her dormitory, go to bed, and pretend none of this had happened.

"Hermione?" she heard Ron ask tentatively behind her.

"What?" she asked grumpily, not stopping. He squatted in front of her, gently taking the bag from her hands and arranging everything into it a bit neater. He put her quills in the wrong place and her ink in the wrong pocket. She couldn't even muster enough energy to correct him.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine. It's fine. We're fine. _Every_thing is just_ fine._"

Ron blinked a few times. "Okay…fine." He grinned hopefully.

Hermione just stared at him, her mouth set in an angry line and her arms crossed over her stomach. She was beyond mad at this point.

If only she could put her finger as to exactly _what_ or _whom_ she was mad _at._

Ron, for saying those things about her and making her want to do what she just did?

Malfoy, for taking advantage of her wanting it?

Herself, for letting it happen in the first place?

Ron again, for walking in just when it was getting good again?

No, certainly not.

It was Malfoy's fault. Of course it was Malfoy's fault, who else's fault could it have been?

Right?

Right.

…..right?

-------------------------

Ron watched Hermione walk away and shook his head. Suddenly, a movement and a soft hiss by the door to the library caught his attention and he looked over. There was nothing there. Probably just a ghost or something.

He carried Hermione's bag back to the common room, following her in silence and still unsure exactly what had pissed her off so much.

Obviously it had something to do with what he'd said in the common room. It's not like there was anything else to be mad about.

When they got to the common room, he set her bag on a table and looked at her. "Hermione?"

"Yes?" she asked. She seemed a bit calmer now.

At least, her face had gone back to its original color and the steam had stopped coming out of her ears.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Haven't we already had this conversation?"

"If by 'conversation' you mean used the word 'fine' as many times as possible in two sentences or less, then yes, we've discussed it thoroughly. If you mean have we actually talked about what the hell has your knickers in such a twist, then I'm going to have to say no, we haven't."

"My knickers are _not_ in a twist. I'm just…pissed off, that's all."

Ron decided pointing out that knickers being twisted _meant_ being pissed off would probably _not_ help the situation, so he stayed silent.

"What are you pissed off about?"

"You said those things to me, and then couldn't even think of anywhere else to look for me! You went straight to the library! I _do_ have other interests, you know!"

"Such as…"

"Knitting! Remember, I made all of those hats and scarves for the house elves?"

"And where did you learn that from?"

"Well, a book, where else?"

"A book gotten from…" he prompted.

"The library, of course! Where else do you know to get books around here?" she cried. Ron just looked at her, his point made. She seemed to realize this, too, and fell silent.

"Fine. I read a lot. So what? I like to study and excel in school. Big effing deal! That doesn't make me a dried up old maid, you know!"

"I didn't say it did." She looked at him pointedly.

Oh. Right. He had.

"Well, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way. Hell, let's face it, I probably wouldn't get through school if you didn't study so much."

The shade of purple her face turned told him that probably wasn't as much of a compliment as he'd thought. He cowered a bit, waiting for the explosion.

"Ron, now is not the best time to discuss this. I'll talk to you in the morning." Without another word, she got her bag and went upstairs. All he could do was stare after her.

Something was _definitely_ up.

-------------------------

Draco almost got caught leaving the library.

He gave the Gryffindors a couple of minute's headstart to grab Granger's bag. He'd just made it to the door when he saw them standing face to face, Weasley holding the bag and Granger with her arms crossed over her stomach. Weasley mumbled something Draco couldn't make out and Granger turned and stalked away from him. Cursing softly under his breath, Draco ducked to the side of the library door and peeked around it to see when he'd leave. The redhead looked over at the door just then and Draco pulled his head back quickly, praying Weasley didn't come to investigate. Finally, after several long seconds, he heard the other boy's footsteps fade away and let out a sigh of relief.

Checking again just to be safe, he slipped out of the library and in the direction of his own dormitory.

Though he had a sneaking suspicion he might not be getting much sleep.


	9. Aftershock

Aftershock

Sleep hadn't helped.

When Hermione woke up, she was still an ex-virgin.

Damn. No hoping it'd only been a dream, then.

What hurt even more than the physical after-effects were the emotional…the overwhelming feeling of guilt at having lost her virginity to a person she hated.

Well…hated was a strong word. Disliked intensely. Yes, that was better.

And even worse than the guilt was the desire to do it again.

-------------------------

As predicted, Draco slept barely two hours that night. Luckily for him, the next day was Saturday.

Having only been with one person prior to Granger, he'd assumed it would be and feel the same.

Boy, was he wrong.

Granger was different than Pansy, in every way possible. Pansy had never really showed passion; her kisses were calculated and methodical. Enjoyable, sure, but…different. Granger's were passionate and full of fire; she put everything she had into them.

He thought he'd stop thinking about her afterwards…he'd done what he set out to.

So why was it he couldn't stop thinking about a certain Gryffindor?

-------------------------

Now Hermione had to try and explain to Ron why she'd been so awful to him the night before.

Excluding, of course, that part with Malfoy in the library.

"Um…Ron?" she said tentatively.

"Hmm?" he replied, not looking up from the game of wizard's chess he and Harry were playing.

"Can I talk to you a moment?"

"Shoot," he replied, still obviously engrossed.

"Alone?"

"Oh, sure. Just a minute, I've nearly clobbered Harry here…"

"Oh, shut up," replied Harry irritably. As predicted, a few moments later, Ron's queen beat Harry's knight to a pulp. Harry sighed and waved him off.

"Go talk. But I want a rematch when you get back."

"In a hurry to lose again, are you?"

Harry had just opened his mouth to retort when Hermione rolled her eyes and cleared her throat loudly. Both boys looked at her a bit sheepishly.

"Right, be right back," said Ron, following Hermione out the portrait and into the small corridor around the corner.

"Look, about last night…" he began.

"No, it was my fault," she interrupted. "I'm sorry I blew up at you, I shouldn't have. I'm just…under a lot of pressure right now. I have a lot on my mind…"

"That's okay, I shouldn't have…" She cut him off again.

"And I suppose you were right. I do spend an awful lot of time reading and studying, and maybe I do do it partially out of fear, I don't know. But I'm going to work harder, try not to be so...so…"

"Irritable? Cranky?" he suggested.

"Yes, that. And I do appreciate you trying to find me last night, it meant a lot that you sought me out to apologize. Are we okay now?" she asked.

"Of course, but…"

"Good, I'm glad we got that settled. Thanks for the talk, Ron," she said, hugging him tightly. After a moment or two, he hugged her back, a bit uncertainly. She let him go and hurried away, leaving him staring after her.

-------------------------

Damn, blast, and wretch.

No matter what he did, Draco just could _not_ stop thinking about Granger.

The way she felt under him…_No, no, don't think about that. You'll need 'Hogwarts: a History' to cover yourself if you keep it up!_

_But I can't help it!_

_Maybe it'll go away tomorrow. Of course you're thinking about it…it only happened sixteen hours ago! Give it another day or so, maybe it will have worn off by then._

-------------------------

_Don't think about it…don't think about it…don't think about it…_

That became Hermione's mantra over the next few days. If she didn't think about it, it didn't really happen.

An infantile way of going about it, perhaps, but effective nonetheless.

Until, of course, she saw him in the entry hall after dinner Monday night.

She sucked her breath in sharply at the sight of him, but, still determined to not let him know she was embarrassed by the whole thing, quickly turned away and kept walking.

------------------------

Malfoy finally cornered her Thursday afternoon.

"Hey there, Granger," he greeted, pulling out the chair next to her in Arithmancy. Hermione was grateful, for the first time, that Harry and Ron didn't take this class.

"What do you want?" she asked, more confused than sarcastic.

"To know why," he replied.

"Can't this wait?" she begged quietly. "After class?"

"Sure," he answered cheerfully, getting up and going back to his own table.

-------------------------

Draco waited right outside the door for Granger after class. He wasn't stupid; he knew she'd try to give him the slip.

And she did. Try, that is.

He had to shake his head and chuckle, watching her take her sweet time pack up her things, talk to Professor Vector about the upcoming assignment and stop to tie her shoe. Eventually, she had to run out of excuses. And he would be waiting when she finally came out. As soon as she crossed the threshold, he took her by the arm and steered her to an empty classroom.

"Well, it's after class," he said, grinning and leaning against the closed door.

"So it is," she replied.

"Why?" he asked, never one to beat around the bush.

"Why what?" she asked innocently.

"You know what, Granger. Don't play coy. Why did you kiss me Friday night?"

-------------------------

Damn. He couldn't just leave well enough alone, could he?

"It seemed like the thing to do at the time?" she tried hopefully.

"Try again," he replied drily. She sighed.

She certainly wouldn't admit that it had been even _partially_ because she was attracted to him. The truth seemed the lesser of the two evils.

"I got into a fight with Ron. He said I'm not enjoying life and…I spend too much time with my head in books because I'm afraid of life. Things like that."

"And he's right." She gaped at him. He responded with a careless shrug. "What? He's right. You do. Look how long it took you to finally admit you want me. You were afraid."

"Okay, first of all, _wanted. _Past tense. Secondly, I was not!" she exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips. He looked at her skeptically.

"Oh, and you weren't?" she accused.

"But that didn't stop me from pursuing you, though, did it?" he countered. She opened her mouth, then closed it again, out of excuses.

"What's the point to this, Malfoy?" she asked, truly confused. "You got what you wanted. You won. Isn't that enough?"

"No, I didn't." Hermione blinked a few times.

"What do you mean, no you didn't?"

"I didn't win."

"How the hell do you figure that?" she asked, flabbergasted.

"I wanted you to buckle on your own, not as some petty vendetta against Weasley," he said calmly. "Consider the challenge still on."

_Great,_ Hermione thought bitterly. Now, she had to admit that she _had_ wanted it. And surely, that wouldn't serve her well, especially if he wanted her as well.

"But…you got what you were after! What does it matter _how_ you got it?" He merely shrugged.

"Sorry, Granger, but I can't be satisfied knowing that I have Weasley to thank for finally getting what I was after. I wanted to _earn_ it, not have it handed to me."

Hermione was getting irritated now. "You have _everything_ handed to you, Draco Malfoy! That fancy-ass broom, the Nimble or whatever it's called, you didn't _earn_ it! Those ridiculous dragon hide boots you're wearing, I highly doubt you worked for the money to pay for those! What's so special about this?" she demanded.

He shrugged again and pushed away from the door. "No time like the present to try and change things," he replied, coming toward her slowly. She quickly circled around him back toward the door.

"Oh, no, you don't. I have Ancient Runes in an hour, and you will not be taking up my study time."

"I think you're looking for excuses to hide the fact that you still want me, Granger." He was smirking now as he moved back into her path.

She felt her face flame, but still met his eyes defiantly. "You can think whatever you like, Malfoy. The fact is you got what you were after. Regardless of how, you still got it."

"I don't see it that way."

"How unfortunate for you," she shot back. "I don't really care how or what you see. You won't get anything more from me. You'd be better off to just deal with it. Now move out of my way."

His eyes darkened in anger. "Fine. You haven't seen the last of this." She just rolled her eyes and pushed past him.

But she was thankful he didn't see her bite her lip uncertainly as she opened the door and made her way to the Gryffindor common room.

-------------------------

It took all of Draco's self control not to punch the wall after Granger left.

Well, that and the intense desire to not explain that injury to Madam Pomfrey.

Weasley.

It'd all been because of bloody Weasley.

She hadn't wanted it at all, he bet. He stood sulking for a few minutes.

_Well, no, that can't be entirely true_, he amended. She'd wanted it enough to give up her virginity.

Logically, Draco knew that he'd won.

But his ego couldn't live with the fact that his victory had only happened because of Weasley. No, no, that wouldn't do at all.

This was a problem. A problem that needed fixing.

Soon.


	10. Whistling and Other Annoyances

Whistling and Other Annoyances

Everywhere.

Malfoy was bloody _every_where.

After every meal, every class…there he was. Leaning casually against the wall and smirking.

At first, she'd tried ignoring him. That had resulted in him waiting for her to be alone and bumping into her. She'd been walking back from Potions, and he'd bumped her shoulder from behind. She'd sighed and glared after him, but he'd stopped, turned, and smirked at her before going on his way.

There should be a law against smirking. If she ever made it to the Law Enforcement Office that would be the first order of business: No smirking. Ever. Anywhere. For any reason.

Then she tried waiting until she was the last person to leave. He was still waiting for her. Leaning on the wall, that stupid smirk on his equally stupid face.

She thought about using a Tickling Hex on him. At least then he'd have something to smile about. But that would imply he was getting to her enough to cause her to go out of her way to try and stop him. And at this point, showing him any attention was bad.

So she started keeping close to Harry and Ron as often as possible. If not them, she found an excuse to walk with someone else. He wouldn't be dumb enough to confront her in front of others.

She hoped.

She also hoped the attraction to him went away soon. It was interfering with her schoolwork.

-------------------------

There was something oddly satisfying about causing Granger so much mental discomfort.

After the first week, though, it became clear that no matter how hard he tried, no matter how frustrated she got, Draco simply couldn't annoy her into sleeping with him.

Time for Plan B.

-------------------------

Hermione almost couldn't hold back the groan when she entered Arithmancy on Monday afternoon.

There was a piece of parchment, folded neatly, on her chair. She didn't have to do much guessing as to who wrote it. She snatched it up and spared a glare at him. He merely smirked.

She was _really_ starting to hate that whole smirking thing.

Sighing in resignation, she opened it.

_Hello, lover. Care to chat? This is a two-way parchment._

Hermione blinked a few times and read it again. _Care to chat?_ She looked over at him again. Another smirk.

_Not especially_, she responded, deciding to ignore the lover comment.

_I'm sorry to hear that,_ he wrote back a few seconds later.

Something about that made Hermione very uncomfortable. Malfoy was rarely sorry. She almost didn't respond. But curiosity won out.

_And just why is that?_

_I'm sure you'll find out soon enough._

Discomfort turned to downright nervousness. Deciding she probably didn't want to know, she folded the parchment and put it in her bag. Fortunately, Professor Vector walked in just then, and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. Grades were just as important to Malfoy as they were to her. Now he wouldn't have time to answer her.

So she thought.

A few minutes into lecture, something began to whistle merrily. The class looked around for who was doing it. Everyone was met with the same blank stares.

Then it got a bit louder. Everyone, still blank-faced, turned to look slowly at Hermione. Or rather, Hermione's bag.

Sucking in a quick breath, she looked down at the bag and slowly opened it. Looking through it, she couldn't seem to find the source of the whistling, which was getting louder. Thinking back, Hermione couldn't think of anything that would be whistling…the only things in her bag were the things she'd put in before going to bed the night before. And she certainly hadn't put anything in there that would be remitting any sound. In fact, she couldn't think of anything new in there at all since last night!

Except…

She could feel the blood drain from her face as she turned slowly to look at a certain blond Slytherin. He was shaking in silent laughter. Her face went from white to blood red so quickly that Professor Vector hurried over and pressed a hand to her forehead.

"Are you feeling all right, dear?" the older woman asked in concern.

"I…um…what? No…I mean, yes, I'm all right. I um…I forgot about the card I got from home today!" she improvised, holding up the parchment and praying the Professor wouldn't investigate it further. As soon as the teacher had turned around, Hermione whipped around and looked at Malfoy disbelievingly. He responded with his usual non-verbal response.

Hermione turned back around and opened the parchment, which now had a new response from Malfoy:

_I told you you would find out._

Scowling to herself, she wrote back a response as quickly as possible.

_What in the bloody hell was that????_

In a matter of seconds, a response started spreading across the parchment.

_A guarantee that you would write back. You won't speak to me otherwise._

_In case you haven't noticed, Malfoy, we're in the middle of class. I won't be held up by notes, whistling or otherwise._

_Promise to meet me later and I promise to remove the Whistling Charm._

_Fine. When and where?_

_I'll find you._

_Lovely. Now leave me alone._

_Until then, lover._

She heard him mutter a spell behind her, and that was that.

Only now, she had to meet him later. She briefly entertained the idea of not doing it. She could easily go straight to the common room after classes, have dinner brought to her there, and stay there all night.

But then she remembered the week before; he wouldn't just leave her alone. Not only that, not meeting him after agreeing to it was low and cowardly. And Slytherin-like.

If there was anything Hermione Granger was, it was a Gryffindor. And that meant following through with one's agreements.

Damn.

This was the last time she got involved with a Slytherin.

-------------------------

Draco hadn't really decided whether to actually meet Granger or not. Meeting her, it seemed, might lead him to do something stupid.

But not meeting her…well that was a completely different thing. Since she really did want him (he was almost positive), leaving her alone to wonder and worry when he'd find her seemed quite a good idea.

Until she walked by him that night after dinner. Though she at least had the decency to ignore him completely and continue on her way. Probably going to the library, silly little bint. He rolled his eyes and turned back to Crabbe and Goyle.

On second thought, there _was_ that book on Quidditch he'd meant to check out in second year…

Making his excuses to his friends, he made his way to the fourth floor.

On the way up, he thought about this situation.

Stopping this…thing just seemed silly, to be perfectly honest. The more they did it, the more likely it was that they would tire of each other quickly. One time really wasn't enough to stem this…this…whatever it was.

He was sure she'd see it that way as well. She was, after all, the best and brightest in their year.

-------------------------

Determined not to let Malfoy get to her, Hermione went through the rest of the day attacking her studies and schoolwork with even more vigor than usual.

_Ancient Runes…Anthologies…Anti-Venoms… _Hermione turned down the aisle on Arithmancy and consulted her list again.

_Numerology and Gramatica. No, I've already got that one…_

She went down a bit further.

_New Theory of Numerology. _Looking back up at the shelves, she ran her finger along the titles, humming softly to herself.

"Any books you can recommend?" asked a voice over her shoulder. Putting on her most helpful smile, she turned. The smile melted into a scowl almost immediately.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked coldly, resuming her search. He followed closely behind.

"The same thing you do."

"For you to leave me the hell alone? Well, I'd say that would be quite easy to achieve, simply by…oh, let's be crazy! Leaving me the hell alone." She heard him chuckle softly behind her.

"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of…a proposition."

"Purely out of morbid curiosity, what proposition might that be? I hope it's better than the last," she replied, stopping as she located the book she wanted and pulling it down. She deliberately avoided looking at him.

"I see no reason not to keep this up."

"And just what would 'this' be, exactly?" she asked, making her way to a table near the back. Probably not the best idea on her part, but it was too late to change her mind now. She could handle him if he decided to pull something.

She was almost sure of it.

"You know what, Granger. _This_. Us. There's no reason not to keep it up, not really."

"How about not being able to look at myself in the mirror? Or get sleep at night?"

"All for the sake mind-bending pleasure?" he countered. She replied to that with a glare.

"No."

"That's what you said last time, Granger. Remember how that turned out?"

"Look, Malfoy, we've already been through this. One night. That's what you wanted, and that's what you got."

"Then look me in the eye and tell me you don't want to do it again. Ever," he challenged.

"I don't want to do it again. Ever," she replied, looking up.

He grinned. "Something interesting on my nose, is there, Granger?"

She sighed in exasperation, picked up her book, and made her way to Madam Pince's desk to check it out.

-------------------------

Draco grinned to himself as he stretched his long legs in front of him and leaned back, his arms crossed self-assuredly over his chest.

She still wanted it. For all her denying and playing coy, she wanted it after all.

Fancy that.


	11. Snowballed

_Author's Note: Greetings, Gentle Reader! I'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying the story thus far! I do a little dance every time I get a review, so please, feel free to continue leaving them. Not a physical dance, mind you. The mental kind. I can't afford to replace the furniture that would be broken should I choose to do a physical dance. _

_Anyway, the first person who can make the connection between this chapter and Chapter 5 gets…um…a mention in the A/N of the next chapter? Oh, and the knowledge that they figured it out, because knowledge is the best reward. (nods wisely)_

_Special thanks to Akasha and Ellae for all the wonderful help and insight they've given me! A nose scratch to both of you! _

Snowballed

Thursday afternoon Hermione saw that she had a new table mate in Arithmancy.

It took every ounce of will power Hermione possessed not to start stomping her feet and whining "But I don't _wanna_ new table may-hay-hate!"

She settled for shooting him a look that she was certain made him very glad that looks couldn't kill. Unfortunately.

Malfoy smirked as she sat next to him.

"Hello, love," he whispered.

"Go to hell."

"Only if you come with me."

She rolled her eyes. "Is there a particular reason why you've moved your seat?"

"Yes."

Hermione looked at him expectantly. He just smiled pleasantly.

"_AND?" _she finally burst out.

"And what?" he asked, an expression of mock confusion on his face. Then he brightened theatrically. "Oh! The reason. If you wanted to know, Granger, all you had to do was ask. It just so happens, I can't see or hear very well from way back there."

"Way back there. You mean the row behind me?"

"Yes, Granger, very astute."

"The row not 2 feet behind me was too far to see or hear Professor Vector. And it took you almost four months to realize. Hmm…interesting," she replied, going back to unpacking her things. Malfoy just glared at her. Ha. That meant she'd struck a nerve.

_Granger 2, Malfoy 1. Still winning after nearly two months._

"Out of curiosity, how did you get Arnold to trade?" she asked after a few moments.

"Paid him. Seems Yodle can be paid off to do a number of things," Malfoy replied easily with a shrug.

Hermione almost asked. But then she decided she didn't want to know.

------------------------

Saturday morning, Hogwarts woke to the first winter snow.

Hermione was walking with Harry, Ron, and Ginny through the courtyard, barely aware of their animated Quidditch discussion, and deeply engrossed in her Arithmancy text. She'd not gotten much done the last class, thanks to a certain Slytherin.

Suddenly, something soft hit her back and she whirled around. A few feet behind her, the others had stopped and were standing under one of the outside walkways. Ron's gloved hands were covered in snow. Both boys' faces wore grins. Ginny at least had the decency to try not to laugh.

"What was that for?" Hermione asked indignantly.

"We stopped, you didn't," Harry replied.

"So you started lobbing things at me?"

"No…we called your name a couple of times first," Ron said, wiping his hands off. She raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Well, okay, once." His grin grew wider. "Don't you ever stop?"

"We _happen_ to have N.E.W.T.'s coming up."

"Not for months! It's the weekend! Enjoy it!" he cried, throwing his arms wide.

"Maybe I am!"

The boys exchanged looks and shook their heads, then began talking again, no doubt about Quidditch.

Hermione shook her head as well and opened her book again, intending to go back to the common room. Then she stopped and looked back at her friends. Ron's back was to her, and suddenly she had an overwhelming urge she just had to fulfill. She put her book back in her bag and hung it from a low branch (so her books wouldn't get wet), then squatted and scooped some snow into a neat ball. After packing it a bit to be sure it would stay together, she chucked it as hard as she could at Ron's back. It made contact with a soft sploosh. He turned slowly around, his mouth slightly ajar. Harry was shaking in silent laughter. Ginny looked as though she might pee her pants from laughter.

"You threw a snowball at me," Ron said in a bewildered voice. Hermione shrugged.

"You told me to enjoy the weekend."

"That's it, Granger," he said, stooping and making another snowball. She did the same just as Ron's hit her in the shoulder. After that, it was pure bedlam, her against Ron. She ducked behind a tree; he did the same. Harry and Ginny started yelling enthusiastically, Harry cheering Ron on and Ginny encouraging Hermione.

They exchanged hostilities for a few minutes, she admittedly getting hit more than Ron did. When she was sufficiently covered in snow, she decided a sneak attack might be well-placed. She peeked around the tree and didn't see Ron anywhere. Probably he was still behind the tree. Scooping as big a snowball as she could manage, she crept out and made her way over to enemy ground. But Ron was waiting for her.

Suddenly, she was grabbed from the side, the snowball getting crushed and splattering both its maker and target. Hermione let out a squeal as her attacker tackled her. Laughing, she looked up to find Ron lying on top of her, grinning down at her. Harry was by the tree, laughing as well. Even Ginny was giggling.

"Thought you'd sneak up on me, huh?" Ron asked.

Hermione just giggled. "It worked didn't it?" Ron looked at her in confusion. The giggles turned to a grin as she pulled his hat off and placed a large clump of snow there, before replacing it. She dissolved into giggles again at the look of shock on his face.

"You'll pay for that," he said.

"Oh really? And just how do you plan to do that?" she asked. He looked at her as though in deep thought, then reached down where her coat hit her jeans and began to tickle. She squealed again as she tried to wriggle away.

"Say I win," he said.

"Never!" she cried between giggles.

"Say I win!" he said louder, doubling his efforts.

"Fine…you win!" she finally wheezed out.

"Victory is mine!" Ron crowed, holding his hands up like a boxing champ. Harry clapped enthusiastically and elbowed Ginny, who just rolled her eyes.

"Ahem! If you boys are through celebrating, I'm getting a bit cold down here!" Hermione interjected.

"Oh, sorry," Ron said, standing. He brushed himself off a bit then reached down to help her up. As soon as she took his hand, Hermione grinned at him deviously. A look of panic crossed Ron's face just before he was pulled down next to her in the snow.

"Now who wins?" asked Hermione, standing and brushing herself off.

Ginny was clapping now, and Harry looked as though he'd just heard Quidditch had been cancelled for the rest of the year. Hermione bowed theatrically.

"All right, you idiots, you're both going to catch pneumonia if you don't get inside!" Ginny called as she got Hermione's bag from the tree branch.

Ron had stood up by this time and was brushing himself off, muttering to himself about losing to a girl.

"Come on, Granger," he sighed, throwing an arm over her shoulders. Hermione grinned as they went inside to dry off and have some smuggled in butterbeer.

-------------------------

Draco stood in the outdoor corridor, scowling at the scene before him. Weasley had just tackled Granger and was now straddling her in the snow, tickling her. Honestly, the one time he really tried to stay away from her, maybe get this whole thing sorted out in his head, and he had to see _this._

Just when he thought he had her figured out. He was _certain_ that she would be in the library on a day like this, studying and doing next month's homework.

Maybe she hadn't wanted him after all, he thought, considering her current position under Weasley. Why the hell did that make him want to punch something?

Still scowling, Draco went to find a first year breaking a rule. That would cheer him up.

-------------------------

Monday afternoon, Malfoy had moved back to his old seat in Arithmancy, and Arnold was her tablemate once again.

Hermione was relieved. Maybe this meant he was _finally_ tired of his stupid game.

Smiling to herself, she opened her text and began doing the assignment.

-------------------------

Draco hovered near behind the door, listening for her footsteps and peeking out every few seconds. She'd approached Vector's desk after they'd been dismissed, which meant that she would probably be one of the last to be in this hallway, the same hallway she took every Thursday on her way back to her common room.

After several moments of silence, he heard slow footsteps approaching. Peeking out, he saw Granger, walking almost sideways as she rummaged through her bag for something. He heard her curse softly as she pulled her hand out, inspected her thumb then sucked on it lightly.

As soon as she crossed in front of the broom closet door, he grabbed her round the waist, placing a hand over her mouth, and pulled her into the closet. However, he did not, as he normally did in such a situation, attempt to block her way. Instead, he put a look of annoyance on his face. She merely sighed.

"Damn. And here I thought it was over. Well?" she asked, leaning against the closed door.

"You win. I give up. Are you happy now? Glad that our little game is over?" he asked moodily.

She narrowed her eyes a bit, as though trying to figure out if this was a trick.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he replied.

"Why bother telling me? Why not just leave me alone, bow out somewhat gracefully instead of making a scene?"

"Okay, first of all, Granger, a scene generally requires the attention of more than two people. Secondly, I thought you'd be relieved, knowing that you can run off and snog Weasley now."

She blinked a few times, obviously taken aback. Then she, unbelievably, smirked. Where did she get off smirking? _He_ was the smirker in this relationship.

Good Heavens, did he look like _that_ when he smirked? He made a mental note to check in the mirror later.

Now, back to more important matters.

"What are you smirking about?" he demanded.

"What's the matter, Malfoy? Jealous?"

For a moment, Draco couldn't speak. Jealous? What was she talking about, jealous? Just because he didn't like the idea of some other bloke straddling her didn't mean he was _jealous!_

"Don't flatter yourself, Granger. I just thought you might like to know that the way is clear for you to go after whomever you wish."

"That would imply that we have some sort of relationship, an exclusive relationship, even. Is that what you're suggesting?" she asked, crossing her arms and straightening.

"Of course not!"

"Oh really? Then why bring it up, hmm?"

"Well…I…that's completely off the point, Granger," he replied, starting to feel something akin to panic.

"Is it?"

"Yes, it is!"

"Then please, enlighten me, what is the point?" she asked calmly. Her eyes, however, were smoldering.

A pissed off Granger was a dangerous Granger.

"Now I've gone and forgotten it!"

"Well, when you locate it, maybe you could share it."

With one final glare, she turned and swept out of the closet.


	12. Changing the Rules

_Author's Notes: Greetings, Gentle Reader! Congratulations to FriskyHam (giggle) for being the first to figure out the connection! It was, of course, paying off Arnold Yodle. And also __medusaasaphoenix, Wopsidaisy, and Hanna28, who figured it out shortly after._

_Special thanks to Akasha for putting up with my constant badgering for help and opinion, and as always, Ellae! And Elle, your vote doesn't count because you cheated. You still get a nose scratch though!_

_And now…on with the chapter! Enjoy!_

_-Manda._

Changing the Rules

The next day Hermione couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about her and Malfoy's broom closet conversation. She'd sort of…implied that she might want it to be more.

Which was _not_ true. Not even a little bit.

Oh dear. This could be a problem.

_But wait! If he thinks I want this to be more…that might actually scare him off. Surely Malfoy isn't looking for a commitment of any sort. There have been plenty of rumors of his conquests. He wouldn't want to give that up._

Reassured, Hermione grinned.

Maybe this was a blessing in disguise.

-------------------------

Meanwhile, Draco was brooding in the Slytherin common room. And wishing he knew more about females.

Did _she_ want it to be more?

Surely not. She'd done nothing to suggest anything but that she wanted him to leave her alone.

Then again, she was a girl. That spoke for itself; girls always did confusing shit like that.

Scowling to himself, Draco got up and schlumped to his dormitory. All this wondering was giving him a headache.

-------------------------

Wednesday, Granger was looking annoyingly chipper and happy. She'd probably been rolling about in the snow with Weasley again.

"Draco, you may want to put that down…" Pansy ventured, reaching over to take the glass he was holding out of his hand gently. He looked at her moodily. "It was about to shatter," she explained slowly.

"Oh. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Any particular reason you're staring at Granger so hard?" she asked conversationally and looking over at the Gryffindor table as well. Granger was sitting with her usual group, all of whom were laughing heartily at something the Weasley girl was saying.

"No," he said hastily, piling bacon onto his plate and tearing into his eggs with venom. Pansy blinked a few times and raised her eyebrows before shaking her head and going back to her own breakfast. She knew better than to try and pry him out of a mood like this.

What in the hell did Granger have to look so happy about anyway? He shot her another angry glance and went back to taking his frustration out on his eggs.

He'd find out, one way or another.

-------------------------

"Oh for Heaven's sake," Granger said, rolling her eyes at Draco as he stepped in front of her. "What are the chances of you leaving me alone until I'm _ready_ to talk to you?"

"Slim to none," her replied drily. She sighed and started to push past him, but he grabbed her arm, spinning her around.

"Let me go!" she said angrily.

"Fine," he replied, taking the book out of her hand and holding it up. She rolled her eyes at his immaturity and swiped for it, but he was too tall.

"Give it back."

"When you're ready to talk to me, I'll give it back."

She sighed in exasperation and glared at him. He merely smirked and swept an arm toward the back corridor he'd come out of.

"After you." She scowled and stomped into it, leaning against the wall and looking at him resentfully.

"What?" she asked moodily.

"What game are you trying to play?" he hissed.

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"Don't you 'what on earth are you talking about' me, Granger. What the hell was that on Monday afternoon?"

"What are you babbling about?" she asked in a bored way.

"Answer the question. What the hell is it that you want?"

"Haven't I made it abundantly clear already?" she asked, straightening again and crossing her arms.

"You'd think so, until that little display on Monday."

"What display?" she asked exasperatedly.

"You implied that you want more. Do you?"

"Of course not!" she exclaimed.

"Then why put it that way?"

"Well…I…what does it matter? It's not as though _you_ want it to be more!" She glared up at him and put her hands on her hips.

Draco spluttered for a few seconds. "Well…of course not, but I can't exactly go around with some Gryffindor pining after me, either, can I?" he cried, throwing his hands up.

"Oh, please," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Gryffindors do _not_ pine. And even if we did, it certainly wouldn't be after arrogant big-headed Slytherin prats! Aside from that, let's suspend reality for a moment. If I, Merlin forbid, _did_ want it to be more, what would you do about it? Knowing you as well as I do, I highly doubt you would do anything but ignore or take advantage of it. So, that said, _if_ I did, I shouldn't think it would be a big problem for you."

Draco opened his mouth, then closed it again with a scowl. She was right, of course. He _would_ be taking advantage if she made any sort of indication that she wanted this…whatever it was to be more than an occasional tumble in the library or snogging in a classroom. But now…what the hell was she saying? Draco's head was spinning, trying to weed out the truth.

"What the hell are you saying, Granger?" he asked finally.

She looked up at him as though she almost pitied him for being so thick. "I want this to be over. I want you to leave me the bloody hell alone."

"Why?"

-------------------------

Hermione blinked again, completely caught off guard. Malfoy wasn't the type to care about reasoning. "Well…because!"

"Well, so long as there's a good reason, Granger…" he replied, rolling his eyes.

"I've already told you why!"

"Oh, right. Sleeping, mirrors. That can't be everything though. You _must_ have something more concrete than that. Afraid Potty and the Weasel won't be your friends anymore?" he sneered.

"Well…that's not the only reason!" she replied.

Suddenly, he slammed his hand into the wall just a few inches from the side of her head. She started and gasped, unprepared for such a physical reaction from him. "Then why, Granger? Why?"

"I…well…it's…it's that…" she stammered, wishing he wouldn't look at her that way.

"It's that what?" he asked, lowering his head just a bit to look into her eyes. His own were burning with…something she couldn't quite place. She sucked in a breath.

"Because I'm scared if you must know!" she finally said.

"Scared? Of what? Certainly not me."

"No…it's…well. I don't know," she finished lamely, even though it was the truth. She didn't know whether she was afraid of so much that she couldn't pick a reason, or if it was that she just couldn't think of a reason at all.

"You don't know," he repeated.

"Is there an echo in here? I don't know!" she replied hotly.

"So it's not that you don't want me anymore" It wasn't a question. Hermione's eyes widened, realizing the trap he'd set and that she'd just walked right into. The hint of a smirk played at the corners of Malfoy's mouth, and he raised his eyebrows, as though daring her to deny it. She swallowed, unable to think of anything to say.

Denying it now would only make her look silly; if it was a matter of not wanting him, she would have said it already. But she certainly couldn't confirm that she did either. Whether it was true or not, it wouldn't make the situation any better or easier. And it would leave her stuck where she started out at.

Better silly than stuck.

She raised her chin defiantly. "Yes, that's part of the reason as well."

Malfoy nodded. "All right then. Why not tell me from the beginning, then?"

"I…well, I assumed that went without saying," she replied, laughing lightly, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Ah. Well, if that's the case, I'm sure you won't mind a small…let's call it a test."

"What do you mean? What sort of test?" she asked, even though the rapid increase in heart rate told her what was coming. He stepped closer to her, closing any and all space between them. Before she had a chance to prepare herself, his lips were on hers and his arms were around her.

She returned the kiss with fervor, uncaring at that very moment that he'd just tricked her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself up onto her toes to kiss him deeper as he pressed her back to the wall.

After a few moments they broke apart. "Well, this changes things a bit, I suppose," he stated, letting her go but not stepping back.

"And why's that, Malfoy?" she asked, not meeting his gaze. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Look, Granger. There's no point trying to avoid it. As much as we may not like it, we have this ridiculous attraction to each other."

"And?" she asked, a bit warily, for she wasn't sure whether or not so wanted to hear what he was about to say.

"And, I think we may need to just play this thing out."

"And what, exactly, do you mean by that?"

"We're sure to grow sick of each other soon, but until that time, we may as well enjoy what we're doing."

Hermione racked her brain. There _had_ to be a reason this was a bad idea. It certainly wasn't reasonable or logical. But strangely…she couldn't think of a single reason. If they were, of course, careful.

"I suppose you're right," she said finally. "But no one else must ever know."

Malfoy nodded. "Of course not."

"And when we're good and sick of each other, we stop. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

Hermione took a deep breath; she was sure she would regret this later. "All right then. Now what?" she asked.

Malfoy grinned. "Library, Friday at midnight?"

She considered him for a moment, then shrugged one shoulder and smiled slightly. "Okay."

He held her book out. She took it, but he didn't let go right away. Instead, he kissed her again, hard and quick. He pulled back and smirked as he flicked his eyebrows up.

"Till then, Granger." Then he was gone.


	13. The Waiting Game

_Author's Note: Greetings, Gentle Reader! There is a reason why the number 13 is unlucky. You're about to read it. This chapter gave me more than one headache and brought me close to tears even more times than that. So, please, like it. If you don't, that's fine…but at least has the decency to lie about it, okay?_

_Oh, and in other news, the Dramiones have started up again! For those of you that don't know, the Dramiones (as the name oh-so-obviously implies) are the Oscars of Dramione fiction. Lotsa good stuff to be read there. You can find the link in my profile, if you so desire to visit and read some Dramione goodness. I personally recommend anything by AkashaTheKitty and Gravidy. They're both amazing authors! Nominations end March 21__st._

_And now…without any further ado…on with the chapter!_

_Enjoy!_

_-Manda._

------------------------

The Waiting Game

Hermione was in her room, looking in the mirror. Again.

It was Friday evening, and she had no idea what she was doing.

She certainly didn't want to look like she'd gone to a lot of trouble to look good for her and Malfoy's…er…meeting. But she didn't want to look as though she was trying to _prove_ that she didn't want it to look like she'd gone to a lot of trouble to look good, either.

Not that she _cared_ what Malfoy thought, of course. But there was no reason she shouldn't try to look decent.

Sighing for what seemed like the thousandth time since seven PM, she went back to her wardrobe and looked dejectedly through her sensible and practical clothes, with the sudden desire to throw it all on the floor and stomp upon it furiously. Suddenly, she caught sight of a black sweater toward the back and pulled it out.

After examining it for a much longer time than she was willing to admit to herself, she nodded and tossed it onto the bed, then went about looking for a pair of pants. After a few unsuccessful minutes, she looked down at the khakis she was presently wearing. Even someone with her limited fashion sense knew that they would never go with the sweater. She dug through a drawer again, trying to find a pair of suitable jeans.

"Er…Hermione?" an uncertain voice called behind her.

"Yes?" she called back absently, not really paying attention.

"What…what are you doing?" the voice called back. Hermione instantly registered it as Parvati, and looked out of the wardrobe, taking in the state of the room for the first time. There were clothes everywhere: the floor, her bed, two of her roommates' beds, and even one shirt hanging from a lamp.

"Oh…um…" she scrambled mentally for a reasonable excuse as to why it looked as though her hamper had blown up. "I'm…I'm…"

"Trying to find something to wear?" Parvati supplied helpfully.

"Yes," Hermione sighed.

"Why?" asked Parvati, cocking her head to one side curiously. Hermione's roommates, if no one else, knew that Hermione Granger simply didn't trouble herself with things like clothes.

"Well…because…um…" Hermione began scrambling again. Suddenly, Parvati's eyes lit up.

"You're going to meet a boy, aren't you?" she all but squealed.

"I…well…um…yes," replied Hermione, deciding some version of the truth was best.

"Who is it? Where'd you meet him?" Parvati demanded, grabbing Hermione's hand and pulling her over to a bed. After pushing a couple of shirts onto the floor, she plopped down and looked at Hermione expectantly.

"Well…I don't really want to say anything yet. It's new and…well…"

"I understand," the other girl replied wisely, nodding. "You don't want to make a big deal about it just yet, right?"

"Yes," smiled Hermione in relief, glad her roommate understood, even if it was a slight lie. A white lie, even. Maybe the tiniest bit gray.

"So, you want some help?" Parvati asked, her eyes filled with new hope.

"I…well…if you don't mind…" Hermione answered uncertainly.

"Of course I don't!" the brunette squealed, jumping up and going over to Hermione's wardrobe. "Let's see…"

-------------------------

"No!" Lavender gasped as Parvati whispered frantically into her ear.

"What?" asked Ron, whom Lavender was currently leaning against. At least, she had been until Parvati came scurrying up to her and started whispering.

"You're kidding!" she squealed now.

"What?!" repeated Ron. Lavender waved him off impatiently. Harry and Ginny, who were on the couch across from them, were looking on curiously now as well.

"She didn't!"

Parvati finally pulled away and was now nodding excitedly. Lavender's eyes widened as she clapped a hand over her mouth.

"What?" the three remaining—and clueless—Gryffindors asked together.

Lavender looked at them and triumphantly declared, "Hermione has a boyfriend!"

-------------------------

Hermione looked at her watch. Again. Ten PM.

This was absolutely ridiculous. She wasn't even sure she _wanted_ to do this.

Well, no, that was a lie. She did.

But she didn't want to be so…so…_girly_ about it all.

Well, at least she'd chosen to patrol far, far, away from the library tonight. She was on the sixth floor, two full floors above the library.

She looked down at her outfit again, as though it might have changed since the last time she'd checked it five minutes ago. Parvati had chosen a pair of jeans that hugged her hips with a black cardigan and a pink tank top underneath. It seemed to portray the look Hermione wanted: just pulled out of the clean laundry and thrown on.

Hermione was grateful for the private bath that sixth years and up were privy to. It made it easy to hide the fact that she'd chosen the powder blue bikinis and matching bra her cousin had gotten her for her birthday to wear underneath.

"Because every girl should have at least _one_ set of matching underthings," she'd declared as she handed her the bag.

Now the choice just seemed silly. What if he laughed at her for putting so much thought into it?

That brought a whole new dilemma to mind. She stopped walking.

Draco Malfoy was going to see her naked.

Sure, he had already, but that was different. She hadn't had time to think about it that time. This time around…she had all the time in the world to worry and fret. Speaking of which…

Oh, dear.

She _had_ shaved her legs, right? She quickly pulled up her jeans to check.

Shaved legs. Check.

Now she could get back to worrying about other things.

-------------------------

"_What?!_" Harry, Ron, and Ginny cried together.

"Who?" Ron demanded.

Parvati shrugged delicately. "She wouldn't say. It's new…she doesn't want to make a big thing of it."

"She told you this?" Ginny asked, sounding a bit hurt.

Parvati nodded. "I don't know that it's official or anything yet…but she was going to meet a boy."

"Why didn't she tell us?" Ron wondered.

"I'm sure she'll tell us when she's ready," replied Harry.

"That doesn't sound like Hermione, keeping secrets and sneaking around with boys," Ron said, shaking his head.

"Weren't you just telling her to get out more?" Harry pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but…I didn't mean for her to go around, meeting some random bloke behind our backs!" exclaimed Ron.

"Behind our backs?" asked Ginny. "Just because she didn't tell us this doesn't mean she's doing something wrong, Ron."

"Yeah," agreed Harry. "And what do you mean 'random'? She's hardly the type to just jump into a relationship with someone like…like…_Malfoy_! She wouldn't be seeing him if she didn't think he was worth the effort."

Lavender and Parvati, already bored with this topic, began whispering between themselves.

"Still…I don't like this," said Ron stubbornly.

"Look, we'll give it a couple of weeks, and if she doesn't tell us, we'll start checking the map when she's gone without us, all right?" said Harry sensibly.

Ron could only nod.

-------------------------

Draco couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed. He checked his watch. Again. Ten PM.

Where the hell was she? She _always_ patrolled this hallway. He looked up and down the hall again.

No Granger.

No hope of pushing their meeting up, either.

Not that he was looking forward to it or anything. In fact…he just wanted to get this over with. He was hoping to have some time for other things afterwards.

Things like…like…

Well, other things, anyway.

At least, that's the excuse he told himself for wanting to see her earlier.

He sat against the wall, willing the time to pass. After what he was sure was at _least_ an hour, he looked at his watch again.

Ten oh seven.

Sighing, he pushed himself up and started pacing again.

After a few more minutes, he stopped.

What the hell was he doing, pacing the hallway in front of their meeting place almost two hours ahead of time? He wasn't _Granger_ for Merlin's sake!

Spinning on his heel, he made his way to the next floor up.

-------------------------

When Hermione had walked the whole of the sixth floor, she walked to a staircase and started to the fifth floor. Six stairs down, she stopped and started toward the seventh instead. When her foot hit the fourth step, she stopped and turned back, chewing on her bottom lip. Then she started back down. On the landing, she stopped and sat down, scowling.

"This is ridiculous. I am a Gryffindor, for Merlin's sake! And the best in my year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! I am Hermione Granger, dammit! I learned to do a levitation charm before everyone else in my class and this is just…Malfoy." Then she nodded with a sharp "Hmph."

Then she started for the fifth floor.

-------------------------

"_Emilyyyy…ah ah ah aaaah…you saved the daaay…_" Hermione sang under her breath as she scuffed down the corridor. She stopped singing and blew a puff of air out of her cheeks.

Another look at her watch. Eleven ten. Only fifty minutes left.

What was going to happen? Would they just…go at each other like a couple of rabbits or…baboons? Would they just sort of ease into it?

She was so busy pondering that she didn't notice that she was about to walk into a statue at the end of the hall. Until the crash, that is.

"_Reparo!_" she hissed, pointing her wand at the fallen and broken statue. It pulled itself back together instantly and stood itself back up. When the damage was repaired, she turned quickly to make sure no one had heard and, seeing that no one was rushing toward her, quickly made her way to the next corridor.

She was a prefect, and therefore allowed to be here, but that didn't mean she wasn't embarrassed about knocking over a statue while thinking about…gulp…Draco Malfoy.

This could be a problem.

-------------------------

_CRASH!_

Draco spun toward the loud bang and pulled out his wand, now driven by the hope that a student was out of bed.

But when he got to the next corridor, where he was sure the sound had come from, it was empty. So was the next.

He shrugged and stowed his wand away.

"Stupid Peeves," he muttered, before looking at his watch. Eleven thirty.

Half an hour to go.

-------------------------

_Author's Note: Okay, I hope you liked it!_

_Now comes the explanation of Hermione's singing. The song, by the way, is _Emily_ by Bowling for Soup (the bestest new punk/rock band around, in my opinion). They hit it big in the UK before here, the way I understand it, and are still bigger there than here, despite being from…wait for it…Texas. Go figure. Anyway, they're a great band, and there's no reason why she shouldn't know of them, or the song, being a Muggle-born._

_End of explanation. Hit that little gray review button!_


	14. Finally

Midnight

_Author's Note: Okay. I'm REALLY sorry it's taken so long. The last chapter was a cake walk compared to this one. You have NO idea how many drafts I went through trying to make this right and believable. Then when I finally came up with this, I didn't know where to go after it. But the good news is I think I have the next couple of chapters planned out all right, so hopefully they won't take as long as this one did._

_Also, I know it's short. I honestly couldn't make it any longer without using filler, which I hate doing. A thousand more sorries._

_Now, on with the chapter! Enjoy! -Manda._

--

Finally

Midnight. Hermione took a deep breath and headed downstairs to the library. It took her nearly ten minutes to do so, as the stairs refused to cooperate and insisted upon taking her to the far end of the fourth floor.

She'd barely made it down the library's hallway, however, when she heard a faint 'Pssst!" She turned around, confused. All of the doors in the hall were closed. She was just about to continue walking when the door to her left creaked open a fraction.

"Oi! Granger!" The door opened another couple of inches and she saw Malfoy behind the door, motioning her inside. She moved to the door slowly.

"What's going on?" she whispered.

"Would you just get in here?" he hissed, rolling his eyes.

Hermione hesitated. Did she really want to do this? She squealed as he suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside and behind him, taking her last chance to back out. She rubbed her wrist and watched in confusion as he stuck his head out, looked both ways, and closed the door softly.

"What's going on? I thought we said the library," she whispered.

"Pince is there," he explained.

"Oh," she replied. "So…what now?" she asked.

He shrugged, his eyes flicking over her body before returning to her face. She swallowed nervously, not at all used to being stared at in this way. She wet her lips and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear before looking down at herself self-consciously.

"Is…something wrong?" she asked tentatively.

He shook his head twice. "No…not at all…it's just…"

"Just…what?"

Suddenly, before she knew what was happening, they were kissing against the door, his fingers flicking the buttons on her sweater and pushing it off of her shoulders impatiently.

"In a hurry, are we?" she whispered as he moved to her neck.

"You have no idea," he muttered back. Hermione smiled.

Suddenly, Malfoy pulled her away from the door and start leading her toward the other side of the room. When they backed into a desk, he reached down and started lifting her up and onto it.

Then it occurred to her what was about to happen. This was happening too fast…it was too much. She stiffened and pulled away.

--

"Wait…we have to slow down a bit…" she stammered, putting a hand on his chest.

Draco could only let out a choked, "What?" as he stared down at her, his eyes wide with incomprehension. She swallowed and looked back up at him.

"We…we have to slow down. It's too fast."

"What are you talking about?" he hissed. "It took you all of two seconds to decide to lose your virginity, but now it's too fast?" He couldn't help the impatience in his tone; he'd waited over a month for this, and he'd be damned if it would be snatched away from him just like that.

She blinked in shock. Then she narrowed her eyes and pushed past him, scooping up her sweater on her way to the door.

Draco closed his eyes and cursed to himself.

"Granger, wait!" he called after her, catching her at the door. He grabbed her arm and pulled her around to face him. She whirled around, still glaring at him.

"Let go," she snapped.

"No. Not until I find out what the _hell_ has your knickers in such a twist."

"What _is_ it with boys and that phrase?" she muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes.

"What?" he asked in confusion.

"Nothing. I don't feel like talking to you right now. Now may I go?" she asked. He swallowed.

"I…don't go," he said simply, maintaining his grip on her arm.

"'Don't go'? That's the best you can come up with? Are you serious?"

"Well, what would you _like_ me to say, Granger?" he bit out, all calm and reason gone. She exhaled sharply and paused for a moment. He could tell she was probably fighting to keep her temper as well. He hated the thrill of arousal it sent shooting through him.

"Look, Malfoy, just because every other girl at Hogwarts falls over herself to cater to your every whim doesn't mean I will. I know you're supposed to be this great Slytherin sex god—don't think I haven't heard the stories—but guess what? I couldn't care less. Deal with it. You're not going to treat me as though you're doing me a favor."

He decided now wasn't the best time to set the record straight about the sex god rumors.

"Like I'm doing _you_ a favor? _You_ were late. You stroll in here almost ten minutes _after_ midnight and—"

"Wait a minute—_stroll in here? _ Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're the one who pulled me in here. Just like every other damn time."

"Exactly, Granger. Precisely my point. Everything up until now has been me going after you, in case it's slipped your notice. And not only that, me pulling you in aside, you were still ten minutes late, all on your own. So I'm not exactly acting like I'm doing you a favor here. Frankly, there are loads of other girls around here that I wouldn't have to do any work for at all. So really, you_ should_ feel lucky."

"Okay, first of all, it wasn't my fault I was late. You can thank the staircases for that," she shot back at him. He blinked and opened his mouth to retort, but she wasn't finished. "Secondly, then why not go after one of them instead? If I'm _so_ much trouble, why not give it up and go after a girl who'll appreciate your _obvious_ effort?"

He opened his mouth to tell her that it was because he didn't want _them; _he wanted _her. _But she cut him off again.

"You know what, Malfoy, I don't even know why I came here. Obviously it was a mistake, so if you _don't_ mind," she said venomously, yanking her arm out of his grip on the word 'don't'.

Before he could stop her again, she'd flung the door open and was gone.

--

Hermione stormed through the castle, barely aware of where she was going, pulling her sweater back on angrily as she walked.

"How dare him!" she said to no one. "Treating me as though I'm some…some…" She couldn't even think of the proper word for it.

She thought about the ridiculous matching bra and panties she was wearing and felt a new batch of anger flood through her. How stupid of her, to think he would have actually paid any attention. To think he might actually…

No. She mustn't think that way.

This was hardly a relationship. It was sex, nothing more. She couldn't think of it any other way.

She stopped short when she found herself at the Gryffindor common room. Hermione looked at her watch; almost one. Harry and Ron would probably be in bed by now. The fat lady was looking at her expectantly.

"Well?" the portrait finally asked with a theatrical sigh.

"Baubles," Hermione replied after a few more seconds. The fat lady nodded once and swung open, shaking her head and muttering something about ungrateful little brats under her breath.

Unfortunately, her best friends were not in bed. They looked up as she entered.

"Hey, Hermione!" Ron exclaimed a bit too loudly, smiling in a strange sort of way.

"Nice patrol?" Harry asked, an equally unusual look on his bespectacled face. They were both looking at her expectantly.

Since when were they so interested? She looked at Ginny quizzically. The younger girl just rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"Er…fine, I suppose," she replied, addressing the boys.

"Nothing…new, then?" asked Ron.

"No…," replied Hermione slowly, looking from one face to the other. They both had the same look of keen interest upon them. She blinked a few times and said, "Well…I suppose I'll be going to bed then. See you in the morning." She gave a little wave and hurried toward the staircase.

--

Draco walked back to his own common room slowly, trying to digest what had just happened.

No girl had ever talked to him that way. What was _with_ her?

More importantly, what was it _about_ Granger that made him want her so badly? He shook his head. This was ridiculous.

She'd been right, of course. There were plenty of other girls he could have with a snap of his fingers. Usually, that made him grin smugly. This time, however, it just infuriated him. He could have _any_ other girl, and yet here he was, chasing after the only one who'd ever refused him.

And with absolutely no idea of how to stop.

Life was totally, completely, and utterly unfair.


	15. The Plot Thickens

Author's Notes: Greetings, Gentle Reader

_Author's Notes: OK. It's been SO flippin' long. I'm sorry. Really. I am. This story is getting harder and harder to write…this has been the most difficult chapter yet!! I did try to make it a bit longer, though, to make up for it._

_I'm sure most of you have screamed in frustration at this point and will probably skip the rest of this author's note. I could probably put anything here and you wouldn't even notice if it was completely ridiculous. Let's try that out. _

_I just saw a purple pelican walking down the street with a blue octopus. _

_Anyway…on with the chapter! Enjoy! -Manda._

--

The Plot Thickens…

Three days later, Draco stabbed his fork into his sausage with a bit more venom than was particularly necessary. After popping it into his mouth, he did it again.

_Stupid little bint,_ he thought, going back a third time. After that, Pansy cleared her throat loudly and smiled at him.

"Draco, anything you'd care to discuss?" she asked pleasantly. He stopped and looked up at her.

"No," he replied curtly, looking back at his plate and repeating the same gesture on his eggs. He knew he was acting like a petulant child, but he didn't really give a damn at that moment.

--

Hermione pushed the food around her plate, glaring at it all the while. She felt a pair of eyes on her and looked up at her friends. They were all talking animatedly and ignoring her off behavior. So she glanced up and down the table instead. A pair of blue eyes about halfway up met hers and crinkled at the corners in a grin.

It was Cormac McLaggen, the boy she'd Confunded at the Quidditch tryouts. He bowed his head in hello, his eyes never leaving hers. He was quite good-looking, she couldn't help but notice. She smiled back shyly. Just then, someone tapped her on the shoulder. She looked at him for another moment, then turned to see her friends leaving.

"Coming?" Ginny asked.

"Um…I'll catch up with you," she replied hurriedly, "I just want to finish up first."

"You've barely even touched your food!" Ron protested as he put an arm around Lavender, who had attached herself to his side once again. "It must be stone cold by now!"

"I don't mind!" she said, trying not to grimace as she lifted a bit of egg, which could best be described as glacial, into her mouth. Her friends looked at her quizzically and she smiled brightly. Suddenly, Ginny's eyes flicked behind her quickly and a small, knowing smile spread across her face. Hermione felt her face flame again.

"Okay, we'll see you later. Enjoy those eggs," she said, still grinning. Hermione smiled gratefully and waved as they left.

After finishing up her tea, Hermione stood and grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl on the table. She was bound to get hungry later, as the only food she'd consumed so far had been the bit of ice-cold eggs. She made a big show of putting the apple in her bag and flashing another smile at Cormac, who was watching her again.

"Hey!" she heard as she moved into the entrance hall. Hermione turned and felt her heart skip a beat when she saw Cormac jogging toward her.

"Me?" she asked innocently, glancing around even though there were no other people to speak of in the hall.

"Yeah," he replied as he caught up to her. "Hermione, right?"

She nodded. "You tried out for Keeper, didn't you? Cormac, I think?" she asked, feigning ignorance of him. He grinned.

"Right."

"So, um…what can I do for you?" she asked as they climbed the stairs.

"The Slug Club Christmas party on Saturday. I was wondering whether you had a date yet."

"Not yet, no," she replied, stopping outside her classroom.

"Now you do. Meet you in the entrance hall at eight?" he asked. She studied him for a moment, as though she was considering it.

"Sure."

"Great. See you then," he said, turning to leave.

"Okay. See you," she replied. Just then the bell rang and he smiled again before walking away. She watched him for a moment, her head spinning at the quickness of the exchange. Then, shaking her head, she went into class.

--

"Cormac McLaggen," said Ginny. She was speaking mostly to Harry, though, as Ron and Lavender were having a passionate goodbye outside of Lavender's classroom.

"What?" asked Harry.

"Hermione's boyfriend. Cormac McLaggen."

"She told you?"

"No." He just stared at her, obviously confused. Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes. "They were making eyes at each other in the Great Hall. He never took his eyes off of her."

"Did I hear something about Hermione and McLaggen?" asked Ron, who had detangled himself from Lavender, as he came up to them.

"Yes. That's the mystery man," replied Harry. "According to Ginny, anyway."

"I can't see Hermione with someone like McLaggen," said Ron skeptically.

"Believe what you like. But he was definitely interested in her. And she wasn't exactly indifferent to him, either," replied Ginny. The bell rang just then and Ginny started to go towards her first class.

"I guess we'll see at the Slug Club party," said Harry.

--

When Draco got to the Arithmancy hallway that afternoon, he was very surprised to see a few people in the class coming back down the hall toward him. Brow furrowed in confusion, he continued to the door and found Blaise Zabini standing there.

"What's going on?" Draco asked as he approached him.

"Class was cancelled. The assignment's on the door," he replied. He looked as though Christmas had come early.

Even more confused now, Draco turned to the door and read the note tacked there.

_Students:_

_I regret to inform you that I am too ill to teach today. Please have the following assignment ready for the class next Thursday. You will be working in pairs—they are listed below._

_Discover your partner's Character, Heart, and Social number, and discuss whether or not they accurately describe them. This will require spending a bit of time with your partner, getting to know them, so that you may make an educated analysis. I chose pairs from different houses, and that I know are not friends or acquaintances, so that your essays would be objective. Perhaps you will all learn something new, about yourselves as well as your classmates._

_Professor Vector_

Draco ran his finger down the list of names, and when he came to his, he discovered the reason for Blaise's expression.

_Draco Malfoy...Hermione Granger_

He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Apparently, Professor Vector didn't observe Draco and Granger very often. This essay would be anything _but_ objective.

Draco sighed and wondered what he'd done to deserve such treatment from Merlin, turning back to Blaise. "She come yet?" he asked in a defeated voice.

"I don't think so."

"Who did you get?" Draco asked.

"Padma Patil. I've been waiting for her so we can…arrange a time to meet," his friend replied, grinning now. Draco could understand why—Padma was easily the best looking Ravenclaw in their year. "It's just luck that I was here to see your reaction. I _was_ rather hoping it'd be better, though," he added, frowning.

Suddenly, there were footsteps in the hall and they both turned. Blaise's frown immediately disappeared when they saw Padma Patil walking toward them, looking confused and slightly wary. Everyone knew Draco and Blaise's reputations, and catching them together when you were alone and female was almost never a good thing. She stopped a few feet from them and cleared her throat nervously.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Class was cancelled," Blaise replied, motioning to the door. The boys moved aside as she approached, so she could read it properly. When she found her name next to Blaise's, she turned to him, still looking slightly nervous.

"So…I guess we're partners?" she said. Blaise nodded and put on his most charming smile.

"Looks like it. Shall we get started?" he asked, offering her his arm. She nodded and took it, smiling shyly. Blaise led her away, but not before clapping Draco on the shoulder and saying, "Sorry about your luck, mate," with a barely-concealed grin and sounding anything but. Draco glared back and watched them walk back down the hall, Blaise's head bowed down close to Padma's now. A giggle floated back down the hall. He sighed and shook his head; Zabini would never change.

Nothing to do now but wait.

Grinning despite himself, he opened the door to the classroom, settled himself at Vector's desk, and waited for Granger to arrive.

--

Hermione was pulling her robe on, holding her bag, and running all at the same time as she tried to get to Arithmancy. She'd gotten so caught up in the library, studying for the next Ancient Runes, Transfiguration, and History of Magic tests, that she'd completely lost track of time. She skidded into the classroom just as the last bell sounded.

"I'm so sorry, Professor, I was in the li—library…" she finished in almost a whisper, when she realized the classroom was empty, save for one person. Her shoulders slumped as she let out a groan.

"You were almost late, Granger. Tsk tsk tsk," Malfoy chided, grinning. He was sitting with his feet propped on Professor Vector's desk, his hands laced comfortably behind his head.

"What's going on? Where's Professor Vector and the rest of class?" she asked as icily as she could.

"Vector's sick today. She left us an assignment for next class, though," he replied, nodding vaguely at a piece of parchment on the desk but making no move to bring it to her. With an exasperated sigh, she marched over and snatched the paper up.

There were no words. Hermione, for what was quite possibly the first time ever, had absolutely no words that could adequately describe what she was feeling as she got to the list of names. She settled for a deep breath ending in a shaky sigh and closed her eyes. She quickly ran through the pitifully short list of options.

_1. Refuse to do the assignment and get a 0. Bring down entire grade and have all the hard work and studying wasted. _

_Next._

_2. Fake it. Risk getting caught and still end up with 0 and wasted work._

_Next._

_3. Suck it up and do the damn assignment. With any luck we can get it done in one or two sessions and be done with it, and hopefully each other._

As much as she would have loved to do options one or two, she would not risk wasting all of the pathetically long hours studying and researching her other assignments because of Malfoy. It seemed three was the best choice.

Dammit.

She sighed again and opened her eyes. "When do you want to start?" she asked in a resigned voice.

Malfoy blinked and looked at her. "What?"

"The assignment. When do you want to start?" she repeated, slower this time.

"Right now sounds good to me. There's an empty classroom on the sixth floor we can use. Very private, no hope of interruption," he replied, grinning. Hermione shot him a look. She couldn't _believe_ his nerve, especially after what had happened on Friday.

"Relax, Granger, it was a joke," he replied. The ever-present grin widened, and Hermione wondered, for the first time ever, what the repercussions of the Knee-Reversing Jinx might be. "Like I'd even attempt it again."

She stared at him for a moment, unsure whether she should feel hurt, angered, or ecstatic. "Good," she said finally, pulling her bag up higher on her shoulder. Even as she did though, the tiny voice in her head piped up again.

_Why not?,_ it asked indignantly.

"The library?" she asked instead. He sighed and swung his legs off of the desk.

"I suppose that would be appropriate."

"Fine. Let's go." She turned on her heel and swept out of the room.

--

_If you want to know where I got the idea for the assignment, it's here: __/arithmancy.html__. _


	16. Some Party

_Author's Notes: Okay, so it's been approximately FOREVER since I updated. I'm REALLY sorry._

Some Party

"Five."

"Six."

"Five!"

"Six!"

"It's five, Granger."

"No, Malfoy, it's not. It's six."

"_Granger,_ it's five."

"Actually,_ Malfoy,_ it's six."

The two sat at a library table on Thursday afternoon, glaring and completely oblivious to the looks they were getting from neighboring tables. Some were a bit apprehensive, others were amused. But mostly, they were annoyed.

Only one person, a third year, was brave enough to clear his throat and alert the two that there were, in fact, other people in the library and those people were, indeed, trying to study as well. Both the culprits turned and sent him a death glare. His eyes grew to the size of saucers before he quickly gathered his things and scurried out of the library.

"Now look what you did! Some prefect, scaring the younger students!" Granger hissed across the table at him. Draco stared at her, amazed at this logic, and shook his head. Then he glared back.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist because I'm right and you're wrong."

"It's six! Don't you think I know my own Character number?"

"No, I don't. Because you're wrong."

"Fine. Defend that boneheaded assessment, then," she challenged.

"Her-my-knee," he annunciated, holding up a finger for each syllable. "Grange-er," another two fingers. Then he waved all five fingers in her face as further evidence of her stupidity. "Three and two make five, Granger."

"Oh, for heav—Malfoy, there are four syllables in my first name."

"Prove it!"

"Her-my-oh-knee."

"The O is silent. That means it's not a syllable."

Granger's face was turning a dangerous shade of red. And Draco was having the time of his life. Really, didn't she understand how enjoyable it was to push her buttons?

"Malfoy, I've had my name for sixteen years now. I think I know how many syllables are in it."

"Apparently not, because you're wrong."

"No. I'm. Not," she bit out through clenched teeth.

"Fine. You're right."

"Thank you," she said.

"But I still say you're a five."

She sat there staring at him, a mixture of disbelief and suspicion on her face, for a good minute before finally asking, "What?"

Draco smiled and flipped a few pages in the open Arithmancy book sitting in front of him. He pointed to a passage and looked up at Granger, his eyebrows raised knowingly. "'Five is the number of instability and imbalance, indicating change and uncertainty. Fives are drawn to many things at once but commit to none. They are adventurous, energetic and willing to take risks. They enjoy travel and meeting new people but may not stay in one place very long. Fives can be conceited, irresponsible, quick-tempered and impatient.' Now, you don't _quite_ have the middle bit down, but the rest, I'd say, was probably written with you in mind. Particularly the bit about instability and imbalance." He sat back and smiled smugly.

He could almost smell the steam coming out of her ears. This was getting better and better.

--

After another, rather unproductive, hour of study, Granger started packing her things.

"Hey, where are you going? We're not finished yet!" Draco protested, even though he knew that the unproductive nature of the session had been mostly (okay, all) his fault.

"Through no fault of mine, you're right; we're not. But I have other subjects to study for, and it's getting late. We can finish up over the weekend," she replied, not stopping.

"Fine. Saturday?" he asked.

"I can't. I have the Slug Club Christmas party," she answered.

"How about in the afternoon?" he suggested.

She hesitated, then nodded. "Fine. Noon, don't be late. I don't want to be stuck with this stupid assignment any longer than absolutely necessary."

"I couldn't agree more, Granger," Draco replied. Then, before his mind could stop it, his mouth was asking, "Who are you going with, anyway?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but Cormac McLaggen asked me." She was avoiding his eyes now.

"Cormac McLaggen. That's the big bloke that tried out for Gryffindor Keeper, right?" he inquired innocently.

Ha. That worked. She looked up from the book she'd packed, unpacked, and repacked twice already, and looked up at him, a look of suspicious disbelief on her face once again.

"And just how would you, a Slytherin, know who tried out for my, a Gryffindor's, house team?" she asked, a tone of practiced and forced calm in her voice. He imagined that tone got a lot of practice, hanging around with Potter and Weasley so much.

He smirked. "There are no rules against watching other houses' tryouts, Granger. How else was I supposed to find out the competition?"

She shook her head at him slowly. "Unbelievable. I can't believe you would do that."

"Oh, you can, too," he replied dismissively with a wave of his hand. She didn't seem to have an answer for that.

This really was turning into a great day.

--

Hermione scowled as she left the library. She scowled some more on her way back to the common room. When she got to the portrait of the fat lady, she scowled and gave the password.

Bloody Malfoy. Why must he always rub her this way?

_Because you wouldn't let him rub you any other way_, the voice replied.

"Hey, Hermione, what's wrong?" a different voice broke in. She looked up to see Harry, Ron, and Ginny sitting in the common room, all with confusion on their faces.

Hermione paused just long enough to snap, "Malfoy."

"Oh," they all said together. Hermione scowled as she hitched her bag higher onto her shoulder and headed to the stairs leading to the girls' dormitories.

"Where are you going?" Ginny called after her.

"I have studying to do," Hermione called over her shoulder.

"Why not go to the library?" asked Harry.

"I believe I've had just about enough of the library this year," she muttered, just loud enough for them to hear.

Harry, Ron, and Ginny exchanged confused looks.

"Sick of the library? Hermione?" said Ginny, her eyebrows knitted together.

--

Relieved didn't even begin to describe the feeling Hermione had when she left the library at two o'clock Saturday afternoon. Two hellish hours after beginning, she and Malfoy had put the assignment behind them and were well on their way to being rid of each other. The minute (minuscule, really) feelings of regret were just…just…well. It didn't matter what they were, because they would surely prove to be temporary, especially in light of her date to the Slug Club party that evening.

Cormac had been quite sweet since asking her to the party, always giving her a smile when he saw her, and once even passing her a note in the corridor, saying how much he was looking forward to it. Hermione smiled to herself as she entered the common room and hummed on her way to her dormitory, planning to take a long bubble bath before getting ready, which she'd wisely asked Ginny to come by and help her with.

Things were definitely looking up.

--

Draco loitered near the staircase leading to the second floor Saturday night. No one else was patrolling there, he was sure; no one would be thick enough to try anything forbidden with every teacher at Hogwarts milling around up there. The rest of the castle would need it more.

Besides, he wasn't patrolling the second floor anyway. He was patrolling outside the hospital wing, on the third floor. And since this staircase lead to the hallway where Slughorn's office, right below the hospital, was, this staircase was surely the quickest way to get there from here. No matter that he'd had to cross the entire castle to get _here_ from his dormitory, or that there were at least ten other staircases between there and here that could have gotten him there just as quickly.

Draco rolled his eyes at himself and sighed. When did he become such a…girl?

"Oh, bugger it," he finally muttered, mounting the steps.

--

At eight o'clock, Hermione stood in the girls' bathroom just outside the entrance hall, giving herself a final once-over. Ginny had managed to find a knee-length black skirt in the back of Hermione's wardrobe and lent her a red sweater to go with it. One pair of black pumps, a little make-up, and a ton of hair potion later, Hermione thought she was looking pretty good. Hopefully Cormac agreed.

"Here goes nothing," Hermione whispered to her reflection, taking a deep breath and turning to leave before her nerves got the best of her.

--

Draco peeked around the corner. He could hear the sounds of the party pouring through the open office door. He crept towards it, intending to only take a quick look, see what he was missing, and leave. Until his eyes fell on Granger.

She looked gorgeous, in a flirty black skirt and red sweater, her hair pulled back from her face and hanging down her back. She was talking to Cormac McLaggen, who looked as though he might float right to the ceiling if he pumped anymore self-importance into himself. She was laughing at something he was saying. Then McLaggen motioned across the room at something and lead her that way. Draco leaned in a bit more to see what it was. There was a signed picture of Gwenog Jones there.

Draco closed his eyes and moaned to himself. Surely she couldn't be dumb enough to fall for—

No. He was wrong; she was following him, not seeming to notice the mistletoe hanging near the picture. Maybe he was overreacting; maybe McLaggen really wanted to look at the—

Wrong again. As Draco expected, McLaggen reached for her almost immediately after stopping under the mistletoe.

He could feel his heart start to pound and his blood start boiling. McLaggen was all over her, even though she clearly wasn't interested. His hand was tangled in her hair, with the other arm holding her against him, despite her hands on his chest trying to push free. Suddenly, Draco's wand was drawn and he was starting to head toward the couple when a hand closed around his arm and pulled him back out into the corridor.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" he heard the raspy voice of the caretaker hiss. "Were you invited?"

"No…uh…not exactly, I just uh…had to ask Professor Snape a question," he improvised. Filch's eyes narrowed, and then a slow smile spread across his face.

"Well, then, by all means, allow me to escort you to him," he said, pulling him to the open door now.

"Oh, no, that's all right. It can wait…" he said, trying to pull his arm free.

"No, no…I wouldn't want to stop you asking your Professor this question that was so important you had to come get him out of a party to ask it."

_Shit_.

--

_Oh, dear…this could be bad_, was the last thought Hermione had before she was yanked against Cormac in a passionate kiss. Just a moment before, she'd seen his eyes fall on something on this side of the room and he'd steered her over here. At first, she'd thought it was the signed picture of Gwenog Jones, until he'd glanced up and said, "Oh, look…mistletoe," then grinned at her.

"Mmmph," was the only thing she could get out as she pushed against his chest, trying to free herself. His hand was in her hair, holding her lips firmly against his, while his free arm was locked around her waist. Finally, out of sheer blind panic and lack of oxygen, she stamped the heel of her pump onto his foot as hard as possible. He let out a cry of pain and jerked away.

"Oh, Cormac, I'm so sorry!" she cried. "Heat of the moment and everything…"

That, apparently, was the wrong thing to say. The smile appeared on his face again as he reached for her. "That's all right," he said softly.

"Could you get me some punch? My throat is positively parched!" she exclaimed just as his lips reached hers. He pulled back again, looking disappointed.

"Sure," he said. "Wait here…I'll be right back."

"I'll be right here waiting for you!" He smiled again and pushed his way into the crowd of people. As soon as he was out of sight, she all but ran to the other side of the room.

Hermione fell against the wall, a hand to her breast, trying to get her breath back. Who would have thought a Gryffindor would act that way?

Then she saw a most unusual sight: Malfoy was being hauled by Filch over to Professor Slughorn and Professor Snape. She could see Filch saying something to them, then Malfoy breaking in to say something, but she couldn't hear them. Suddenly, Professor Snape took Malfoy from Filch and started leading him away, but Professor Slughorn stopped him and said something, a genial smile on his face as he bounced on the balls of his feet. Professor Snape sneered at the older man and lead Malfoy through the door.

Curious, she made her way over to Harry, who hadn't been very far from the scene.

"What happened?" she asked. Harry just rolled his eyes and kept his eyes on the door.

"Oh, Malfoy tried to crash. Slughorn was all for letting him stay, but you know Snape, he wouldn't hear of it. I should follow them…" he said, a thoughtful look crossing his face.

"Oh, Harry, I'm sure he's just going to scold him for trying to come to the party uninvited."

"Maybe you're right," he replied, looking at her for the first time. He blinked and looked at her more closely. "Are you okay? What happened?" he asked, looking at her hair. Her hand immediately flew up to it; she could feel that it was sticking up everywhere, no doubt from where Cormac had thrust his hand into it. She smoothed it down self-consciously.

"Oh…ah…I just escap—er—left Cormac. Under the mistletoe," she clarified. Harry's eyes narrowed angrily.

"Should I go talk to him?" he asked, his eyes searching her face in a most unusual way.

"No," she replied quickly. "I'm all partied out, anyway. I think I'll go back to the common room."

"Want me to walk you?" he asked, his green eyes locking onto hers.

She sighed. "I'm a big girl, Harry; I'm more than capable of walking myself to the common room," she said. "Go find Ginny; I'm sure she's around here somewhere."

"Yeah…maybe I'll do that. Sure you're all right?" he asked.

"Yes. Go!" she exclaimed, turning him around and pushing him away playfully. He chuckled.

"Okay. See you later," he said, moving back into the crowd to find Ginny.

"You, too. Have fun!" she called, moving toward the door.

Hermione scowled to herself when she got to the hallway, thinking of Harry and Ron. What was with the two of them lately? They'd always been brotherly and protective, but it had seemed double what it normally was recently.

She sighed and shook her head.

Boys. She'd never figure them out.

--

"Well, it's not McLaggen," Harry told Ginny a few minutes later. "It looked to me like she couldn't wait to get away from him."

Ginny looked thoughtful. "Well, I'm sure she would have brought whomever it was she was seeing to the party. If she couldn't wait to get away from McLaggen, then clearly it's not him. I wonder who it is then. Do you think maybe they broke up, and McLaggen was rebound? And that could be why she was so despondent at breakfast Monday morning."

"Could be," agreed Harry absently, his mind still on Draco Malfoy being hauled out by Filch. Why would he want to crash the party? He'd made it abundantly clear all year that he couldn't care less whether he was in the Slug Club or not. Strange.

_Author's Notes Part Deux: UH-OH! Seems our favorite Gryffy boys might be figuring something out..._

_You know what I'm going to say...hit that review button!_


	17. Revelation and Reflection

_Author's Note: Greetings, gentle reader! So. Here it is. The much-anticipated, hopefully-worth-the-wait Chapter 17_ . _I must admit, this is the first chapter of the story not under a beta's influence every step of the way. In short, I'm quite nervous about it. Both my betas have been, understandably, detained by that nuisance known simply as Life. So, I am now beta-less and on the lookout for another 1 or 2...or even 3! I don't have the time to sort through the literally-THOUSANDS of betas out there, and I won't hold you up any longer with details about what I need in a beta, so if you're interested and preferably experienced, feel free to message me!_

_And now, with only a tiny bit of ado...on with the chapter! Enjoy!  
-Manda._

* * *

Revelation and Reflection

Hermione sat in Arithmancy, her foot jiggling restlessly as her eyes darted to the clock every few minutes. It was the first class since they'd gotten back from Christmas holidays, and Professor Vector was sure to have read the pairs assignment by now. As soon as the bell rang, she sprang out of her chair and began packing her bag, anxious to be out of the room and away from Malfoy as quickly as possible.

She almost made it, too.

"Ms. Granger, Mr. Malfoy, kindly stay behind for a brief word!" she heard Professor Vector call out over the clatter of chairs being pushed back and students bum-rushing the hall. Cursing to herself under her breath, Hermione closed her eyes and turned slowly, deliberately avoiding Malfoy's eyes.

"Professor, it's potions next, I wouldn't want to be—", Malfoy began.

"I'll be sure Professor Snape knows why you two are late. My office, please," Professor Vector cut in, gesturing to the door at the back of the classroom. They walked back slowly, as though that would stop the berating sure to come next. When they got in, Professor Vector gestured to the two chairs opposite her desk and closed the door. "Have a seat." The two apprehensive students sat obediently.

"Now. The pairs assignment," she began as she settled herself behind her desk and folded her hands upon it. "I assigned it, fully aware that not all essays would be the most, ah…complimentary. However, both of yours stood out from the rest." She paused there, as though to invite either student to defend themselves. When neither did, she continued. Both students braced themselves for the long-winded and pause-heavy monologue that was sure to follow.

"I must admit, I paired you two together as part of...let's call it a social experiment. One would have to be blind or very thick indeed to miss the tremendous amount of animosity that exists between your houses. Being two of my best students, I had hoped that you might rise above such things and write essays that were a bit more above-the-bar. Or, at the very least, civil. Sadly, the experiment was a dismal failure, as both of your papers were extremely biased, and on a very personal level. Mr. Malfoy, I'm not quite sure why you deemed it appropriate to call Ms. Granger a"—here she paused to peer at his paper through her glasses—"'frigid cow', but I assure you it is not." She paused again to let Hermione absorb these words. Hermione slowly turned her head to look at Malfoy, who was suddenly very interested in the arm of his chair.

"As for you, Ms. Granger, whatever your personal feelings about Mr. Malfoy, I had hoped that you, at least, might have striven for objectivity." She rifled through a few papers before plucking one out and reading aloud, "'_Draco Malfoy is an arrogant, ignorant, insolent, and haughty excuse for an human being'. _Three of those adjectives being completely synonymous aside, this is not at all the sort of thing I'd expect from you." Hermione looked down at her shoes at the sound of the words. They'd been written in anger nearly two weeks ago, and admittedly forgotten about when she'd hastily finished the paper and handed it in the day before holidays.

_This is precisely why I shouldn't have involved myself with him in the first place!_ she thought angrily. Now she would undoubtedly get her first bad grade—_ever, _thank you very much!—and it was all Malfoy's fault. She sighed unhappily. Well. At least it would force her to spend even _more _time in the library, and therefore more time avoiding Malfoy. Then, with a small shake of her head, she remembered the professor was still talking, and decided to pity herself later.

"Now, as you've both proven to be excellent students, and because you _did _complete the assignment, I'll let these papers go." At this, both students' heads jerked up in surprise. "However, I'll be watching both of you and expect the rest of your work this year to be up to your usual quality. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Professor," they mumbled humbly.

"Good," Professor Vector replied, taking out a piece of parchment and scribbling a few lines on it. "Give this to Professor Snape, it should clear you of being tardy. See you next week."

Hermione took the parchment and gave the professor a stiff smile, wondering, yet again, whether to use the Knee-Reversing Jinx or the Tickling Hex...

--

As soon as they were in the hallway, Granger swatted him on the arm. "Frigid cow?!" she hissed.

"First of all, that didn't hurt. Secondly, I call them like I see them," he replied, rubbing his arm, despite what he'd claimed. "And you weren't exactly complimentary either, Granger."

"At least what _I_ said was true!" she shot back.

"Oh, and having sex with a bloke then going all prude on him the next time _isn't_ frigidity?" he asked.

" No, it's not! More like me coming to my senses before sleeping with a complete git—again! Admittedly, the revelation came at a bit of a bad time and I apologize," she replied, a bit haughtily.

"A bit of a bad time. No, Granger. 'A bit of a bad time' would have been, oh, I dunno, _b__efore _we had already started. How on earth can the girl with the highest marks in the class be so hopelessly stupid when it comes to this sort of thing? You read enough that you ought to be an expert!"

"I don't tend to waste my time on smut such as that. And I want _more_ out of a relationship than casual sex_._ Is that _so_ hard to grasp? Excuse me if I'm not quite up to the level of 'tart' that you're used to."

"Well, why in the hell didn't you just say so, then?"

"Would it have made any difference to you if I had?" she asked, her voice raising in volume.

"Maybe!" he all but yelled back. Granger blinked and all traces of anger left her face, surprise and confusion quickly replacing them. Draco's own eyes widened and he quickly backtracked, realizing what he'd just implied. "I mean, uh, maybe...maybe you could have saved us both a lot of time. If I'd known that you wanted...that...maybe I wouldn't have even bothered," he tried, but it sounded weak, even to his own ears. Granger's eyes narrowed a bit, but her face relaxed. Draco cleared his throat. "Shouldn't we be getting to class?"

They fell into an uneasy silence as they started walking again.

"Why were you at the Slug Club party?" she asked suddenly.

He gave a quick shrug. "I don't know. Curiosity, I guess."

"And?" she prodded.

He shrugged again. "It looked like fun," he allowed.

She shrugged, too. "It was okay."

"Oh, I don't know...it looked like you and McLaggen were pretty cozy under the mistletoe," he replied, flashing a grin at her, and knowing full well it hadn't been the case. Somehow, though, he couldn't help himself from bringing it up.

--

Hermione stopped and stared at Malfoy in disbelief. At first, she was a bit ashamed at him having seen her in that position. Then she got angry. What the hell business of it was his who she snogged, or when and where?

"You think I can't enjoy myself in that way with someone other than you?" she demanded, crossing her arms.

He had the nerve to smirk. _Smirk!_ "Well..."

"And just how do you know that I didn't enjoy it more with him than with you? Hmm?" She knew she was being a bit unreasonable, but it irked her that he was so smug about it.

"I'm pretty certain. You didn't look like you were enjoying it at all, actually."

"And just how in the hell would you know?"

"The hands on his chest trying to push him off of you was a pretty good indicator."

"I seem to remember doing the same thing to a certain smug Slytherin," she replied loftily.

"Would that be the same smug Slytherin that you lost your virginity to not too long after?" he countered.

_Dammit_, she thought. But she wasn't about to let him get the upper hand. So instead of admitting he was right, she smirked right back. "I suppose that should be a pretty good indicator of what happened later on then, shouldn't it?" She wasn't sure why she said such a blatant lie, but it worked. He hesitated, and she got a small satisfaction at the bothered look that crossed his face. She turned on her heel and started stalking away from him, quite pleased with herself. She heard him start after her a few moments later, and amused herself until then with the mental image of him staring after her, perhaps even a bit longingly. It would serve him right!

Until, of course, he opened his mouth in a very Malfoy-like way.

"I suppose you had to find comfort somewhere after I rejected you."

--

Granger's lower jaw dropped as she came to an abrupt halt and whirled around. "Excuse me?"

Draco held his hands up in front of himself, palms to her and his fingers spread innocently. "No, no, I get it. Needing someone to lick your wounds is perfectly understandable."

"I...you little...you reject _me_?" she asked loudly. She stepped up to him and planted a finger on his chest, poking him hard. He backed up a few steps. "It was _me _that did the rejecting, if I remember correctly! _I _was the one that stormed out of the room when you tried to...to..." She couldn't seem to finish the sentence.

He did it for her. "To what? To do what we were meeting there to do?" he supplied.

"No!" She turned from him and started storming down the hallway.

He, of course, being a Malfoy, wouldn't have it. "Then what? You changed your mind? Wanted to play the game a bit longer?" he called, following her.

"You practically mauled me the second I set foot in the room!" she cried, spinning to face him once again. "You just...you could have gone a bit slower, that's all!" She took a deep breath and looked at him properly. He just stood there, thunderstruck by this outburst. She met his eyes for a brief moment and he saw confusion there, just as she probably saw it in his own. Thankfully, she looked down at her watch. "We're almost fifteen minutes late for Potions now. We'd better get to class," she said softly, turning again. He caught up a few moments later.

Before he could stop himself, he was catching her arm and stopping her.

--

"Wha—" she started, before she was pulled to him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her softly. When she didn't pull away, he pressed his lips a bit harder on hers, nudging her mouth open. She responded almost immediately, not even bothering to pretend she didn't want to. Her bag fell to the floor with a loud _clunk _as her arms circled his neck and her lips pressed back against his. She lifted herself up onto her toes to reach better. He let go of her with one arm in order to push one hand into her hair, cradling her head gently as her mouth opened willingly under his.

Then, quite suddenly, he pulled away. Hermione heard him whisper something, but her brain wasn't really processing any thoughts just yet. She wavered a bit for a moment, and his arm tightened around her waist. Her eyes floated open a few seconds later.

"Hmm?" she asked.

--

Draco smirked a bit.

"I said, you mean like that?" he repeated.

She blinked and cleared her throat, all business again. Extracting herself firmly from his grasp, she smoothed her uniform down and straightened her robe. "Yes. Like that," she replied icily, patting her hair down. "But it's a bit late now, isn't it?" With that, she picked up her bag before walking calmly away. Draco watched her, much the same way he'd done that very first night outside the library.

As she turned the corner and walked out of sight, he started walking back the opposite direction. Merlin, how had he managed to forget how soft her lips were? He wasn't sure what it had been about this most recent kiss that made her let go so easily, rather than trying to pull away at first, but he liked it.

A lot.

Maybe a little too much. Which was why he'd pulled back.

And why he was sporting uncomfortably tight pants as he walked back to the common room. There would be no point in attending a lesson he knew he couldn't concentrate on. And there would be no concentration today, not with Hermione in the same room.

_Hmm, _he wondered privately. When had he started thinking of her as Hermione instead of Granger?

* * *

_Another Author's Note: All right...there it is! I hope it was up to your expectations. If not, and you have a beta-type suggestion or comment, please send it in a message rather than a review; it's must easier to wade through messages than reviews! Thanks! -Manda._


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